Sri Lanka vs Australia, 2nd T20I at Colombo, SL v AUS, Jun 08 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

And with that it's a wrap from myself, Gnasher and the team. Thanks for keeping us company. See you again on Saturday for the final T20, when the action moves to Pallekele. Till then, goodbye!

Mustafa Moudi : "Comparing this match with yesterday's match, Toss Result - Same (Aus elected to Field), SL's first innings Score - Same, Result - Same (Aussies Won)... But a huge difference today was the competitiveness. This match was not a boring one-sided affair like yesterday!!"

Australian Captain Aaron Finch: "Our whole bowling unit did a fantastic job to restrict Sri Lanka on that wicket, one that probably deteriorated as the game went on. Mathew Wade also showed his experience taking us through. There was a little bit of panic from our end, but that can happen when the crowd gets involved. But the thing we had going for us was there was no run rate pressure, and it's a wonderful crowd to play cricket in front of."

Sri Lankan Captain Dasun Shanaka: "We were right there, but unfortunately we were not able to capitalise with the bat. Different days, different reasons [for the batting failures], today the top order fell early. The difference is also playing the conditions, and today in Khettarama we didn't deal with the conditions well."

So time for the presentation ceremony. First up, Mathew Wade is Man of the Match, for keeping his head and steering his side to a nervy win.

Wade: "There was a bit going, and we know Sri Lanka are a difficult team to face at home, especially when the crowd get behind them. When they get momentum they're a difficult team to pull back. We just knew we needed to get through their two main spinners and tick off the runs. It certainly helped that guys got off to a flyer at the start, so the run rate wasn't really an issue. And it was good that I was there at the end to see us through."

10.37pm So Sri Lanka finally gave their fans something to cheer, and nearly pulled off a miraculous escape, but Mathew Wade, with an unbeaten 26, and Jhye Richardson (9*) held on to ensure the series win. They put on 27 for the eighth wicket, which was Australia's second-best partnership after Warner and Finch opened with 33. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the Australian chase, that was derailed by a combination of tight Sri Lankan bowling, a deteriorating pitch and some careless play by the Australians. Wanindu Hasaranga with match figures of 4 for 33 almost turned the game, helping reduce the visitors to 7 for 99, but Sri Lanka rue not going with an extra spinner as Wade was able to wait out Hasaranga and Theekshana and see the game out. The Lankan batters were also about 20-30 runs short - the second game running the batting unit has failed - and in the end that proved to be the difference. Sri Lanka though will take a lot of heart from this performance for the tour going forward.

9 needed from 24 now. Sri Lanka need wickets.

Kumar : "So Hasaranga gets his IPL mate. Any smiles or exchanges?" Lots of joy from Hasaranga, none reciprocated though.

Joydeepsinghgil: "Sri Lanka should've took the benefit of powerplay like Australia they made just 28 runs into it whereas their opponents took benefit of it they made 63 runs it is the biggest difference of this match"

Thushara back now.

18 needed from 30. Those wickets have definitely given Sri Lanka hope, but this is still very much an uphill battle.