SL vs AUS | One-dimensional and too predictable: Andrew McDonald opines on loss in 3rd T20I

The whirlwind knock of 54* off 25 balls from Dasun Shanaka helped Sri Lanka to win a thriller in the final T20I match of the bilateral series against Australia at Pallekelle. 

With 59 runs required off three overs, captain Shanka along with the support of Chamika Karunaratne created history by chasing the most runs in the final three overs of a T20I fixture. 

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald felt his team was too predictable in the game, which was the first occasion in the series where the visitors were defending the total.

"We felt we got a little one-dimensional at certain periods, a little too predictable and probably went away from what made us really good in the first two games, albeit we weren't defending a total," said McDonald. 

The 41-year-old head coach thinks that the T20 World Champions played good cricket for 34 overs, but the hammering in the final few overs would be a learning for a few individuals. 

"We feel that pressure probably took us away at times from what made us really good," McDonald said. "We've been really good over a period of time, and even last night, you could argue that for 34 overs that we playing really good cricket. 

"We've got some personnel who are getting exposed to situations which is always a positive.

McDonald added that the team indeed didn't execute their plans well but hailed the innings of the Sri Lanka captain, who deserved the desired result. 

"There were a couple of areas we could tidy up, no doubt about that. When you get put under that type of pressure…we didn't execute as well as we may have hoped to in that situation, but full credit to an innings of that quality; it deserves the result it got, and it was a great game," he concluded. 

The next challenge for the Australian team in the shortest format will be against India in September, followed by home series against England and West Indies at home, leading up to the T20 World Cup. 

However, before that, they will play a five-match ODI series and a Test match series on this tour against the Island nation.