George bails Australia out as record blooms

George Bailey was full of praise for the Australia bowlers in Dambulla last night, before revealing the secret to his success that culminated in a match-winning performance with the bat in a tense two-wicket victory.

Report & Highlights: Australia grab series lead in Dambulla

The experienced middle-order batsman finished with 70 off 99 deliveries to earn the Player-of-the-Match award in helping the tourists reclaim the series lead at 2-1 in the five-match campaign.

Despite an elite ODI average of 41.13, Bailey has at times found himself on the outer of a talent-laden batting line-up, including the recent Caribbean tri-series and more notably for the bulk of last year’s World Cup triumph.

In what may come as a surprise to some, Bailey is actually the most prolific ODI batsman among all current Australian players, his 2,756 runs placing him 35 clear of opener David Warner from the same number of innings (75).

Since missing out on selection in the early stages of that tri-series, the 33-year-old has produced a string of starts without an overly significant score to show for it.

While unable to see Australia’s chase all the way through to the end in Dambulla, the bulk of the work was done and represented Bailey's highest score since his unbeaten 76 against India at the Gabba in January, which had followed a sublime century against the same opponent at the WACA.

"Just try to relax a bit more and enjoy it, probably a better balance off the field,” new father Bailey said in response to a question regarding the key to his return to form.

"I know what it feels like to be out of the team or on the outer of the team.

"I know the worst-case scenario if I don’t score runs is I’m back to that feeling, so I’m just trying to make sure I enjoy every second with this team that I can."

In typical Bailey fashion, he didn’t miss an opportunity to bring some light-hearted humour to the occasion.

"I’m just hitting my peak at the right age,” Bailey continued.

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"Maybe I’ve got a few years left. Watching (Tillakaratne) Dilshan run around today, he still looked in nice touch with the bat and he still moves phenomenally well doesn’t he?

"Is he 39? Six years left for me."

While pleased with his own display that was loaded with sweep shots both conventional and reverse, Bailey sent plenty of credit over to the Mitchell Starc-led bowling attack.

Only a patient hundred from Dinesh Chandimal gave the hosts something remotely competitive to defend, as they were bowled out for just 226 in a batting performance that ultimately proved to be not enough.

"We’d done the hard work in terms of restricting Sri Lanka to 226 on that wicket which I think was a phenomenal effort," he said.

"To knock over Sri Lanka as well as we did, it was a really complete bowling performance by our boys today.

"We were certainly very confident. We fell behind the eight-ball a little bit, just with our wickets.

"Knowing that we bat quite deep, we just had to hang in there and try to produce a couple of partnerships."

As Australia prepare to adopt a ‘horses-for-courses’ mentality for the Qantas Tour of India early next, Bailey looms as a possible dark horse for a Baggy Green return in the much-anticipated four-Test tour.

The Tasmanian boasts a terrific average of 55.71 in 16 ODIs in Asia – admittedly a vastly different task to what a Test match would throw at him – and also produced a solid summer of Sheffield Shield cricket in 2015-16 with his 761 runs placing him fourth on the list of run-scorers for the season to remind the National Selection Panel of his ability in the longer format.

For all the talk that will no doubt surround the possible make-up of the Test squad for the Indian tour, Bailey made it clear he embraces the task of performing in unfamiliar conditions.

"I love the challenge,” Bailey said.

"It’s very different to playing in England. It’s very different to playing at home.

"I find it a great thrill to be able to test yourself and to come up with new shots and to come up with different ways to combat the different things that are thrown at you.

"The conditions are so different on each and every cricket wicket. That’s one of the great things about the game."