'They deserved to win', Finch praises Sri Lanka after series defeat

By virtue of some extraordinary team efforts, Sri Lanka emerged victorious against Australia by a margin of 3-2 in the recently concluded five-match ODI series at home. 

The Lankan lions had already grabbed the series by winning three of the first four matches. However, the visitors managed to pull off a consolation win in the fifth dead rubber played at Colombo yesterday. 

In the post-match press conference, the Australian captain Aaron Finch heaped praises on the home side for their spectacular cricket throughout the series. Accepting his team's defeat gracefully, Finch stressed that Sri Lanka were certainly the better team across all departments in the series and thoroughly deserved to lift the trophy. 

"The series was hard fought, but credit to Sri Lanka for the way they played, they deserve the win", Finch said. 

When quizzed about the possible reasons behind Australia's ordinary performance in the series, Finch said they failed to transform small partnerships into match-winning ones, leading to their first ever bilateral series defeat against Sri Lanka in 32 years. However, the swashbuckling right-handed batsman also admitted to being satisfied on winning the fifth match and thanked the entire crowd for exhibiting amazing sporting spirit throughout the series.  

"Most players got starts, but we were not able to get those big partnerships. We got those 40-50 runs partnerships, but not enough", Finch said. "Pleased with the way we performed (today). I would like to thank all the fans, they've been amazing. We have two more tests remaining, but a few of us are leaving tomorrow, a big thanks to the crowd", the 35-year-old concluded.