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Chris Lynn cops embarrassing dismissal after blasting selectors

Discarded batsman Chris Lynn has failed to back up his midweek grumblings about being left out of the Australian Twenty20 team.

Lynn was overlooked for Australia's home T20 series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan and questioned why he wasn't contacted about his non-selection.

The 29-year-old had the chance to let his runs do the talking, playing for the PM's XI against Sri Lanka in Canberra on Thursday night, but he was clean bowled for three off seven balls.

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The PM's chased down Sri Lanka's 8-131 with one wicket and one ball to spare after Kasun Rajitha bowled a wide on the final ball of the match in Canberra.

But it was Lynn's failure which was the talking point as former players in the Fox Sports commentary box offered the master blaster some free advice.

Chris Lynn, pictured here after having his leg-stump uprooted.
Chris Lynn had his leg-stump uprooted. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Lynn isn't playing in the Sheffield Shield and or the domestic one-day competitions this summer and former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin believes it has cost him form.

"It's hard to come out in this form of the game with no cricket behind you and start opening the front leg and clearing the boundary," Haddin said.

"(His dismissal) is probably a good example of someone who hasn't played a lot of cricket, it's a very full ball and if you're in form you play that straight back down past the bowler.

"You need to be playing consistent cricket, in all tournaments around the world, but you need to playing some sort of high-level cricket to come in and face international attacks."

Chris Lynn, pictured here trudging off after being dismissed.
Chris Lynn trudges off. (Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Former Test captain Allan Border echoed the sentiment.

"You can go in the nets but as we all know, it's very very different when you walk out into the middle in a game situation so that's a lesson for Chris," Border said.

"He needs to be playing more cricket, even if it's club cricket, just something out in the middle."

Lynn has played 18 T20 internationals and averages just 19.4 at a strike rate of 131.67. In his past nine T20 innings for Australia Lynn has scored more than 20 just once.

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PM’s XI win thriller

Harry Nielsen, the son of former Australian coach Tim Nielsen, guided the PM's XI to a narrow victory.

The hard-hitting wicketkeeper blasted 79 off 49 balls and also took three catches as the PM's XI chased down Sri Lanka's 8-131 with one ball and one wicket to spare at Manuka Oval.

Nielsen, 24, has played just 11 first class matches but the opener proved he could handle an international attack through his match-winning knock.

"I couldn't quite get the job done but it was nice to get a few runs," said Nielsen, who was dismissed with nine runs still required and five balls remaining.

"I was just trying to take it as deep as possible. We kept losing wickets at probably the wrong time and their spinners bowled really well through the middle, I just tried to hit the gaps and run hard."

Sri Lanka could be in for a tough three-game T20 series against Australia next week as they struggled to score against an attack that produced 53 dot balls.

In contrast, a wide from Rajitha effectively handed the PM XI's victory with the extra carrying the hosts to 9-132.

Dan Christian, Scott Morrison and Peter Siddle, pictured here celebrating the Prime Minister's XI's win over Sri Lanka.
Dan Christian, Scott Morrison and Peter Siddle celebrate their victory. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat but only three players made more than 11 runs, with Oshada Fernando top scoring with 38.

Canberra local Djali Bloomfield (2-17) started the slide when opener Danushka Gunathilaka edged to Nielsen in the second over.

Test star Peter Siddle (1-15) and veteran allrounder Dan Christian (2-16) were the pick of the bowlers with sharp three-over spells.

"It was a good result in the end, Harry looked after us, that's for sure," Siddle said.

"We gave them a few more than we would have liked in the end but we took wickets along the way which kept us in a good position."

Outside man-of-the-match Nielsen, the PM XI's effort with the bat was woeful with only Christian (13) joining Nielsen in double figures.

Lakshan Sandakan (3-21) was the pick of the Sri Lankan attacking, making inroads into the PM XI's batting order in the absence of rested skipper Lasith Malinga.