The wicket was more settled than the one used for Sunday’s opening match, but Sri Lanka’s spinners, most notably Seekkuge Prasanna (1-48) and Amila Aponso (4-18), were a constant threat. With the left-hander as stand-in captain, Warner will hope for an inspiring performance from all his players.
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Dilshan captained Sri Lanka for two years between May 2010 and January 2012 and was an effective off-spin bowler, picking up 106 wickets at an average of 44.84.
Skipper Steve Smith tried to fight back with his 33-ball 30, his innings laced with five boundaries, but his wicket off Aponso spelt more trouble for the visitors.
Smith will miss the remaining three one-day fixtures and two T20s, with vice-captain David Warner to take the reins for the first time. He was also a brilliant fielder and an intelligent bowler.
The five-match series is locked at 1-1.
“I hate missing cricket, but in the long run it will do me a world of good”, Smith was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia on Twitter.
Full credit to Kundal Mendis who has been the player of the series so far – after an uneasy start losing both openers cheaply he steadied the ship and guided Sri Lanka to an nearly impossible to chase 289. He did so, marginally, in the second ODI in Colombo, where his 48 ended his hopes of becoming the first Sri Lankan to make six consecutive ODl fifties.
He is only the fourth Sri Lankan to pass the 10,000-run mark in one-day matches, with only 11 batsman having achieved the feat to date. “Shane’s entitled to his opinion, but I think we’ve got the right guys here to get the job done”. Dilshan’s place at the top of the order was under challenge from the likes of Kusal Perera, Danushka Gunathilaka, and Dhananjaya de Silva, who has so far batted down the order in ODIs.
Faulkner collected a hat-trick late in the innings spread over two overs as he dismissed Angelo Matthews, Kusal Perera and Thisara Perera.
Captain Angelo Mathews suggested there could be changes to the Sri Lanka XI, but Dinesh Chandimal – who hit his fifth successive ODI fifty in the first match – and Kusal Mendis have been cleared after injury concerns.
Bowling: Starc 9.5-0-53-3, Lyon 9-0-49-1, Faulkner 9-0-45-3, Head 4-0-41-0, Zampa 10-0-42-3, Finch 2-0-7-0, Henriques 5-0-40-0.
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The series continues in Dambulla on Sunday.
