Australia v Sri Lanka, CB Series 3rd final, Adelaide

Sri Lanka limit Australia to 231

Australia 231 (Wade 49, Warner 48, Herath 3-36, Maharoof 3-40) v Sri Lanka

	David Warner gave Australia a strong start before edging behind

Sri Lanka require 232 to win the triangular ODI series after Australia's batsmen let a strong start deteriorate into mediocrity in the third final at Adelaide Oval.

Led adroitly in the field by Mahela Jayawardene, the visitors were not perturbed by an opening stand of 75 at better than five runs an over between David Warner and Matthew Wade, and chipped away diligently at the hosts with a combination of spin and reverse swing on a slowing pitch.

Shane Watson hinted at a strong innings but threw his hand away on 19, swinging an outfield catch, Michael Hussey was run-out, and Wade's subsequent dismissal added to Sri Lanka's sense of control. The rest failed to build substantial scores, and in the end no Australian batsman passed 50 as they were bowled out in the final over for 231.

Rangana Herath and Farveez Maharoof shared six wickets, while Nuwan Kulasekara also contributed to a tidy ensemble, of which only Lasith Malinga struggled to contain. Herath bowled his best and most incisive spell of the tournament to return 3-36, helped by the use of the same pitch that had hosted Tuesday's second final.

As he had done in that match, Tillakaratne Dilshan took the new ball and bowled his overs with thrift and direction. Like Dipak Patel for New Zealand at the 1992 World Cup, he gave the batsmen little to hit, but was never subject to a concerted attack by his opponents.

Carrying the momentum from their eight-wicket victory in the second final, the visitors had named an unchanged team, with a long batting line-up stretching to Chamara Kapugedara at No. 7.

The hosts have been forced into two changes, with the captain Michael Clarke dropping out due to a serious hamstring strain, while James Pattinson was missing due to a glute strain. Peter Forrest and the spinner Nathan Lyon, making his ODI debut, took their places.

Conscious of the need for greater impetus at the top of the innings, Warner and Wade played their shots early on, though taking more liberties against the pacemen than Dilshan's part-time spin. Warner cleared the boundary once and looked rather more fluent than he had during most of his century on Tuesday, but on 48 he edged a decent, bouncing delivery from Maharoof to Kumar Sangakkara.

Wade had been struggling physically, vomiting at one point in what appeared an attack of gastro, but Watson's arrival brought a handful of crisp strokes and a continued strong run-rate. It was a surprise when he picked out Herath on legside boundary off Dilshan's bowling, the fielder clasping the sharp chance to his chest.

Hussey's stay was brief, Dilshan's swift gather and throw from short third man finding him short of his ground after he had called Wade through for a single. Sri Lanka's sense of momentum only grew when Wade's dogged stay was ended by Herath, who coaxed an edge that Sangakkara held with a juggle.

Forrest could make only three before misreading Herath's length and being bowled by a delivery that straightened just enough to beat his defensive blade and flick off stump. David Hussey was given lbw to a ball that would have passed over the top of the stumps, while Daniel Christian was undone by a Maharoof slower ball that he could only punch to mid off.

Clint McKay and Brett Lee did their best to swell the total in the closing overs, and it is their bowling in the early overs of the chase - before the spin of Xavier Doherty and Lyon is called upon - that may determine the outcome of the contest.