Australia have completed their tour of Sri Lanka with a record-breaking Twenty20 victory over Sri Lanka after spin twins Kristen Beams and Jess Jonassen sparked yet another dire batting collapse by the hosts.
Sri Lanka 8-59 off 20 overs (Beams 3-11) defeated by Australia 0-63 off 8.1 overs (Villani 34no and Mooney 29no) by 10 wickets with 71 balls to spare in the T20 at SSC Ground, Colombo
Australia’s victory by 10 wickets with 71 deliveries up their sleeve was the largest-ever – in terms of balls remaining – in women’s T20 internationals. Sri Lanka’s meagre total of 59 was the third-lowest overall and the worst score by a team batting first.
Kristen Beams again cashed in on some poor thinking – and worse execution – by the home side to claim three wickets, but it was the left-arm orthodox of Jess Jonassen that was most threatening.
Jonassen was introduced during the Power Play to send down the sixth over of the afternoon and the top order immediately found it difficult to rotate the strike, let alone score boundaries.
The pressure applied by the clever tweaker led to the run out of captain Chamari Atapattu for 4. Jonassen then produced a beauty with the third ball of her second over to bowl Lasanthi Madushani for 17, but more on that below.
Jonassen used her variations – particularly her change of pace – brilliantly on her way to the frugal figures of 1-8 from the allotted four overs.
The Southern Stars were dealt a blow when captain Meg Lanning was struck down with illness prior to the match.
The skipper’s absence, along with that of allrounder Grace Harris who also missed the final ODI with illness, meant Australia only had 12 players to choose from for the tour finale.
Vice-captain Alex Blackwell took the reins for the afternoon and opted to bowl after winning the toss.
Australia now return home for a packed summer schedule that will see the players first join their states for the WNCL season, followed by a five-match ODI series against South Africa, the second season of the WBBL and then a trio of T20s against New Zealand at home in February.