The 28-year-old wicket-keeper-batsman from Hobart rotated the strike and swung for the fences to script an admirable fightback after Australia had lost half their side by the 28th over. However, the home side's bowlers were able to stem the run-flow and eventually their efforts tipped the result in Sri Lanka's favour.
It was the pair of Amila Aponso and Thisara Perera, who preyed on the nerves of a fragile batting line-up to pick up wickets at regular intervals. Perera gave them the perfect start by tempting David Warner (1) to drive at a fuller length delivery, only for the opener to eke out an outside edge behind the stumps in the second over.
His partner at the other end, Aaron Finch (4), didn't last long as his attempted slog across the line off Perera, resulted in an inside edge that clattered the stumps. Steve Smith (30) for a while weathered the storm by checking a flurry of boundaries before he sauntered down the track to a delivery that was cleverly held back by Aponso and could only offer a simple catch to the fielder positioned at mid-on.
The hosts continued to whittle away at the opposition ranks as Australia dipped to 118 for 5. Wade and Travis Head (31) though, were able to walk the tightrope and raise hopes of the visitors stealing a famous win. Wade, in particular, showed decisive footwork and the required batting nous to handle the spinners with aplomb.
Wade's superlative footwork can be exemplified by the way he manufactured room to go inside-out over cover off Dilruwan Perera in the 39th over to crunch a boundary. However, in an attempt to up the ante, he holed out to Danushka Gunathilaka at deep mid-wicket off Thisara Perera in the very next over.
Angelo Mathews, who also shone brightly with the bat, backed up the seamer by dismissing Head and Mitchell Starc (0) in the 41st over. Adam Zampa (5) and James Faulkner (13) strung together a partnership of 17 for the ninth wicket, but they were only denying the inevitable. Australia finally folded for 206 in the 48th over to hand the hosts an easy victory.
Earlier, Mathews (57), Kusal Perera (54) and Mendis (69) had composed noteworthy fifties to power the home side to a sizeable score on the board.
On a sporting track, Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal (48) stitched together a 125-run stand for the third wicket to resurrect the hosts' innings after they were precariously placed at 12 for 2.
The duo of Mathews and Perera then provided the decisive joust in the slog overs to propel Sri Lanka to 288 in their allotted 50 overs. For the visitors, Faulkner used a stream of slower ones to befuddle the opposition and snare a memorable hat-trick in the 48th over. Mathews, Kusal and Thisara Perera were his victims. He turned out to be the sixth Australian to pick up a hat-trick in the ODI format.
Zampa, the legspinner, also played his part in putting the brakes on the scoring rate by sparking a mini-collapse in the middle overs. He dismissed Chandimal, Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva in quick succession.
In fact, Wade, too, should be given some credit for Chandimal's dismissal as he convinced Smith to place his belief in the review after an LBW appeal against the wicket-keeper-batsman was turned down.
At the start of match, it was Starc, who yet again made the initial incision by castling Gunathilaka (2) in the third over with the one that nipped back off the seam. Nathan Lyon, who opened the proceedings with Starc, then winkled out Tillakaratne Dilshan (10) in the fourth over.
However, Smith's gamble of using the part-time spin of Head in the 10th over of the innings backfired as Mendis unfurled a volley of boundaries to help the home side gain the much-needed momentum.
Sri Lanka would be buoyed by the victory. Incidentally, this turns out to be only their sixth win in their last 21 ODIs. On the other hand, the Australian think-tank would be again fretting over their batsmen's inability to handle the slow bowlers.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 288 in 48.5 overs (Kusal Mendis 69, Angelo Mathews 57; Adam Zampa 3-42, James Faulkner 3-45, beat Australia 206 in 47.2 overs (Matthew Wade 76, Travis Head 31; Amila Aponso 4-18, Thisara Perera 3-33) by 82 runs.
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