Cricket News

Sri Lankan fans thank the Australian Team for visiting the country during the ongoing crisis

The fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and Australia on Friday saw some incredible scenes at the R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo. After the game ended with Australia winning the fifth and final ODI by 4 wickets, the Sri Lankan fans in a heart-warming gesture thanked the Australian Cricket Team for visiting the country amid the ongoing economical crisis in the country.

The Sri Lankan fans donned the Australian team Jerseys and cheered for them. The Australian team loved the warm reception from the crowd and acknowledged it. The entire stadium was full of Australian flags and the banners saying “Thank you Australia”.

Reacting to the kind gesture from the crowd, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell said, “That was pretty extraordinary and I was just saying to the boys. That was one of the most special feeling being able to walk around the ground and have a foreign country all cheer for you. A lot of times when Australia tours we are generally the enemy and there are not many Australian fans in the stands but to have the support and fans that are here at the moment is truly extraordinary.”

“Everyone’s wearing yellow. They have got all the Australian flags all over the place. It’s extremely special and credit to everyone that’s been able to get out here. It’s been such a tough time obviously for the local and for them to come out and support us and hopefully, both teams can entertain them and they’ve had a really good time during the one-day series,” Maxwell added.

Here’s the video of the incident

"We're generally the enemy" 😅

The scenes in Colombo after the fifth ODI were unreal and left Glenn Maxwell and the Aussies stunned as fans thanked them for touring 🥰 #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/Xugt5KVmyX

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 24, 2022

After losing the T20 series by 2-1, the Sri Lankan team made a strong comeback and managed to win the ODI series by 3-2 hence winning an ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time since 1992. The two teams will also be playing a two-match Test series starting June 29. The venue for both the Tests will be Galle International Stadium, Galle.