• Sri Lanka have registered their first bilateral ODI series win at home over Australia in three decades.

  • Charith Asalanka smashed his maiden century in the 50-over format.

Twitter reactions: Charith Asalanka powers Sri Lanka to first ODI series win over Australia in 30 years
Sri Lanka beat Australia in 4th ODI (Image Source: Twitter)

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Sri Lanka scripted history on Tuesday when they defeated Australia in the fourth ODI at R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo to mark their first bilateral ODI series win at home over the Aussies in three decades.

After being put to bat first, Sri Lanka were in trouble, losing Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka within the first 10 overs. Then, Charith Asalanka took charge and bailed his side out from the hot waters. The left-handed batter formed a crucial stand of 101 runs for the fourth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (60) before the latter was dismissed by Mitchell Marsh.

Asalanka, however, continued scoring runs from the other end to keep the hosts in the game. He stitched another vital partnership of 57 runs with bowling all-rounder Dunith Wellalage for the sixth wicket. Asalanka reached his maiden ODI century in the 45th over and ended up scoring 110 off 106 deliveries before Pat Cummins removed him in the 48th over. Riding on Asalanka’s inspirational ton, Sri Lanka managed to put a competitive 258.

In response, David Warner kept the Aussies on the track despite wickets falling from the other end. Warner exhibited his fine batting skills in front of Sri Lanka’s bowling, primarily dominated by spin. The left-handed opener was cruising towards what could be a perfect triple-figure score but fell short off just one run after getting stumped in the 37th over.

Australia were in the game till the last over as the contest went down to the wire. The visitors needed 19 off the final over bowled by Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka. The No.10 batter Matthew Kuhnemann gave the home team a scare by showcasing some batting skills, bringing the equation down to five off one ball.

But Shanaka held his nerves and bowled a slower delivery to trap the tailender. The Lankan captain pitched the ball around the back of a length, with Kuhnemann ended up giving a catch to the fielder at cover as the tourists lost the match as well as the series.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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