Marsh, who wasn’t in the playing XI for the first two ODIs, will now miss the two remaining ODIs and then the subsequent two-match Twenty20 global series. 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. The 39-year-old was named skipper after both Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene had resigned from the post in 2011.Dilshan, however, was later eventually replaced by Jayawardene after the South Africa tour. Asked to talk about his challenges when he was the captain of the Sri Lankan side in 2011, the floodgates opened up as Dilshan let out long-pent grouses about his teammates and their lack of support for him in his hard phase as the captain. Tillakaratne Dilshan was the only other Sri Lankan batsman to have made a decent contribution with 42 runs in 65 deliveries. Pathirana, who has played three ODIs previously, comes in but it remains to be seen if he gets a game straightaway.
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Mathews struck again with his medium-pace to get Shaun Marsh, who was included in the playing eleven in place of resting Steve Smith, out for one and put the visitors in trouble at 44 for three.
Marsh’s departure comes a day after confirmation paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile was going home due to a back injury. Every time I’ve gone out there, I’ve done that. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well. You always have the respect from your peers, which is always fantastic.
He was well supported by Travis Head (36) and Matthew Wade (42), getting to Sri Lanka’s total with four overs to spare.
Angelo Mathews, Amila Aponso and Dilruwan Perera claimed two wickets each on the evening for the Sri Lankans while Seekkuge Prasanna and Dhananjaya de Silva also had one wicket each to show for their efforts.
Despite his own lack of runs, Warner captained Australia effectively on Sunday in his first match in charge, juggling his bowlers well and showing an attacking mindset in the field.
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– David Warner has scored just 221 runs in his 10 ODI innings in the subcontinent, passing fifty only once.
