Australia vs Sri Lanka, 1st T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Sri Lanka tour of Australia, 2017 Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Date & Time: Feb 17, 07:40 PM LOCAL

Gunaratne was the real hero for Sri Lanka, scoring a brilliant half-century under pressure © Cricbuzz

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After building some unnecessary pressure upon themselves by taking the game to the final ball, Kapugedara kept his cool and pierced one through the covers for the win. Sri Lanka have taken a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. Asela Gunaratne awarded Man of the Match. He was the real hero for the visitors with a brilliant half-century under pressure.

A good over from Faulkner has taken this game to the final over. Andrew Tye will bowl it. Can he pull off a heist?

Prasanna played the role of a finisher pretty well in South Africa. With him there, SL should see this off, no problem.

Gunaratne departs after getting stumped off a failed reverse sweep. Sri Lanka need 18 off 17. Surely they can't botch this from here, can they? As I write this, there's another wicket. Siriwardana is out LBW, or let's say he's adjudged LBW, off Turner. Double strike!

The right-hander has delivered under pressure, and how. A brilliant fifty off just 34 balls. He is leading SL to victory. Just 18 needed in the last 3 overs.

Gunaratne and Siriwardana lead a brilliant recovery with an enterprising partnership to put Sri Lanka back on course

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Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Niroshan Dickwella(w), Upul Tharanga(c), Dilshan Munaweera, Asela Gunaratne, Vikum Sanjaya, Chamara Kapugedera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Milinda Siriwardana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lakshan Sandakan, Lasith Malinga

Australia (Playing XI): Aaron Finch(c), Michael Klinger, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Ashton Turner, Tim Paine(w), James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye

So there it is, Michael Klinger will indeed make his debut. Ashton Turner and Billy Stanlake are also getting their maiden caps.

Hello and welcome everyone for the 1st T20I between Australia and Sri Lanka at the MCG. At a time when many believe that safety instructions in airplanes are more relevant than some of the international cricket matches played, we have Sri Lanka touring Down Under for a standalone T20I series with nothing to build for. But hey, as long as there's some thrilling cricket on display, who's to complain. I am Sagar Chawla, your lovely host, all set to bring you all the wackiness (and the cricket of course). You can join along and participate in the blog by tweeting @SagarChawla90.

While Sri Lanka have had a torrid run of late, their only silver lining on the tour of South Africa came through the T20s, where they created history by winning their first ever bilateral series in the Rainbow Nation. They will be further boosted by the return of pace-ace Lasith Malinga. Angelo Mathews got injured during the previous tour and continues to be on the shelf. Upul Tharanga will lead in his stead.

On the other hand, on the day of Australia's warm-up game against India A to prepare for the Test tour, they are also starting a 3-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, showing that you only need the will. No, actually the scheduling has been quite clumsy. They will be forced to field a second string team. Their past T20 record has been anything but great. So, for stand-in skipper Aaron Finch, there's much to rectify. We may also have a debutant, Michael Klinger, who's only had to wait 36 years of his life (and counting, we don't know yet) for an Australia cap.