23.2.2008
Rex Clementine reporting from Melbourne

Sri Lanka’s woes with the bat during the Commonwealth Bank Series continued, as the top order collapsed yet again on a two paced wicket in a must win game against Australia here at the MCG in Melbourne on Friday.

A splendid effort by the bowlers saw Sri Lanka reducing the hosts to just 184 for seven in 50 overs, but the batsmen failed to show any fight and were reduced to 77 for four in 29.3 overs before a heavy downpour forced an early end to the game, declaring Australia the winners according to the Duckworth/Lewis method.

Sri Lanka needed to be 102 for four at the end of 29.3 overs according to the D/L method, but they were 24 runs short and Australia won with the bonus point.

Sri Lanka, the finalists of the tri-nation competition the last time they played here in 2005-2006 have won just one game in six outings this summer in Australia. They also played two Tests earlier in the Australian summer and altogether in five games against the world champions, they have failed to win a single game.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen also look terribly out of form and with the exception of Kumar Sangakkara, no one has been consistent.

The Sri Lankans have regularly taken part in the tri-nation competition here in Australia since gaining full membership of the International Cricket Council in 1982, and this has been one of their worst campaigns in the competition.

The Sri Lankan teams of the 1980s have also struggled in Australia, but even in the early days, their batting has not struggled so much.

After wining the toss, Mahela Jayawardene decided to field first and the bowlers backed up the decision by keeping things tight, giving the tourists a chance to enter the finals at the expense of India, before the batsmen spoilt everything.

With Australia resting Brett Lee, it was the perfect opportunity for the Sri Lankans to win with a bonus point and get closer to 11 points and closer to India, who are placed second in the points table with 12 points.

Sanath Jayasuriya’s dismal performance in the series continued when he was out for a second successive duck in the series, this time out in the first ball.

The Australians had left open the cover point region, inviting him to drive and going hard at a Stuart Clark delivery, he got a thick edge and was snapped up by Ricky Ponting at second slip, as the tourists lost their first wicket without a run on the board.

Whether Dilruwan Perera deserved his place in the side has been questioned for sometime as the 25-year-old has managed only five fifties in the domestic one-day competition without a hundred in 72 games.

Eventually, the team management had to give him an opportunity after Tillekeratne Dilshan’s promotion to open the innings didn’t pay off.

Yesterday, the leg before wicket decision that Perera got looked harsh as the umpire failed to pick up the nick and the height of the ball, but his 11 ball stay in the middle looked hardly convincing.

Jayawardene, with Kumar Sangakkara, kept Sri Lanka in the hunt. Jayawardene kept the scoreboard ticking with clever improvisations, but he top edged a Nathan Bracken delivery to Adam Gilchrist to leave the total at 42 for three in 17 overs.

Soon afterwards, Kumar Sangakkara, trying to pull James Hopes spooned a simple catch to Andrew Symonds at cover, leaving them on 64 for four.

Farveez Maharoof, who was nearly dropped for yesterday’s game was the hero for the Sri Lankans with the ball, returning impressive figures of 10-1-20-2. Maharoof’s poor bowling and substandard fielding in the two wicket loss to India in Adelaide had prompted the management to ask him to raise his game.

But he came back strongly, despite some poor efforts on the field to pick up Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds and came up with a brilliant effort off his own bowling to run out Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Sri Lanka had persisted with a short cover fielder for the struggling Hayden and trying to work a ball on to the leg side, Symonds was deceived by the slower delivery and gave Chamara Silva at short cover a simple catch.

Prior to that, Gilchrist gave the charge to Chaminda Vaas and was bowled through the gate for just six.

Vaas, who ended with one for 34 in ten overs, should have got two more wickets. First, Tillekeratne Dilshan dropped Ponting at point before he had opened the account. Ponting has been in poor form this season and he failed to make the most of the life he got and a terrible mix up between the batsmen saw the Australian captain being run out.

Ponting pushed at a delivery and charged down the wicket for a single and Maharoof dived to his right and threw the ball back to the wicketkeeper, after recovering it and Sangakkara did the honours.

After the seamers had done a decent job, Muttiah Muralitharan came on and picked up Michael Clarke (50), when he took a return catch and then bamboozled James Hopes with a ‘doosra’ and had the batsman stumped by Sangakkara.

Michael Hussey, with an unbeaten 64, helped Australia to 184 and eventually that proved to be a defendable score against Sri Lanka’s fragile batting.

Scoreboard
Australia

A. Gilchrist b Vaas 6

M. Hayden c Silva b Maharoof 23

R. Ponting run out 11

M. Clarke c & b Muralitharan 50

A. Symonds c S’kara b Maharoof 4

M. Hussey not out 64

J. Hopes st S’kara b M’tharan 11

G. Hogg c Dilshan b Malinga 4

M. Johnson not out 6

Extras (b 2, w 3) 5

Total (7 wickets; 50 overs) 184

Did not bat: Bracken, Clark

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-39, 3-44, 4-54, 5-144,

6-166, 7-173.

Bowling: Vaas 10-1-34 -1, Malinga 10-1-44-1, Maharoof 10-1-20-2, Muralitharan 10-0-37-2, Amerasinghe 10-0-47-0

Sri Lanka

D. Perera lbw b Clark 1

S. Jayasuriya c Ponting b Clark 0

K. S’kara c Symonds b Hopes 22

M. J’wardene c Gilchrist b Bracken 27

C. Silva not out 16

T.M. Dilshan not out 9

Extras (lb 1, w 1) 2

Total (4 wickets; 29.3 overs) 77

To bat: Maharoof,Vaas, Malinga, Amerasinghe, Muralitharan

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-3, 3-42, 4-64.

Bowling: Bracken 6-1-13-1, Clark 5-1- 8 -2, Johnson 7-1-17-0, Hopes 7-2 -23-1,

Hogg 4.3 -1-15-0

courtesy The Island