Sri Lanka bowlers fight to stay in tournament
25 overs Australia 4 for 113 (Watson 57*) need another 126 runs to beat Sri Lanka 238 (Chandimal 75, Sangakkara 64, Christian 5-31, Pattinson 4-51)
| ||
Lasith Malinga gave Sri Lanka hope of securing a place in the finals as they skittled Australia's top order but Shane Watson stood in their way at the 25-over mark. Chasing 239, Australia were 4 for 113 at the halfway point, with the captain Watson having steadied the side from first-drop with 57 not out in a solid 87-run partnership with Michael Hussey.
But the loss of Hussey for 29 from the final ball of the 25th over hurt Australia, as he tickled a catch behind off the part-time medium pace of Lahiru Thirimanne. It was the breakthrough Sri Lanka needed after their batsmen posted a score that appeared a little below par on a reasonable batting wicket.
Watson had brought up his half-century from his 61st delivery with a straight drive off Thirimanne. Watson had been strong when the bowlers had strayed too straight and Hussey was his usual self, putting away bad balls where he could, but neither man was in a hurry. Steadying the innings was their initial task after Australia slumped to 3 for 26, at which point India looked in serious danger of being bundled out of the competition with a Sri Lankan win.
David Warner and Matthew Wade had been reunited as the opening pair but they both fell cheaply. Warner (6) slapped Malinga to short cover, a strange shot to a ball that sat up on him, and Wade was lbw for 9 to Nuwan Kulasekara. Those wickets were followed by the departure of Peter Forrest, who came in at No.4 and was caught behind for 2 when he tried to cut Malinga.
But as was the case in the Sri Lankan innings, a solid partnership grew out of the early wobbles, and Hussey and Watson steered Australia to a more comfortable position, until Hussey fell. At the halfway point in the chase Watson held not only Australia's hopes of victory but also India's hopes of making the finals, as Sri Lanka must win, or tie, to qualify ahead of India.
50 overs Sri Lanka 238 (Chandimal 75, Sangakkara 64, Christian 5-31, Pattinson 4-51) v Australia
Daniel Christian became the first Australia bowler to take an ODI hat-trick since Brett Lee, nearly a decade ago, as Sri Lanka struggled to 238 at the MCG. Sri Lanka must win the match to progress to the finals ahead of India and, despite half-centuries from Kumar Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal, they will need a strong effort from their bowlers to keep them alive in the series.
Sangakkara and Chandimal put on 123 for the third wicket and Lahiru Thirimanne made a useful 51 but too many of the batsmen fell for single-figure scores and Sri Lanka were dismissed from the last ball of the 50th over. On his return from injury, James Pattinson troubled the top order with his pace and collected four wickets, and Christian's late strikes delivered him 5 for 31 and prevented Sri Lanka from making a late charge.
Christian was mobbed by his team-mates after completing his hat-trick, which was delivered by an lbw decision that could have been overturned had Sri Lanka had the DRS at their disposal. The first of his three strikes was not in question, and came thanks to an outstanding piece of work from Michael Hussey at deep midwicket.
Thisara Perera skied a ball and was taken by Hussey just inside the boundary, but realising his momentum was carrying him over the rope Hussey tossed the ball in the air, stepped over the boundary and then jumped back in the field of play to complete the catch. The ball had gone so high that the batsmen had crossed twice, leaving the new man Sachithra Senanayake on strike.
He was lbw first ball and replays indicated the ball would have gone on to hit leg stump. The same could not have been said for the next delivery. Rod Tucker raised his finger to give Nuwan Kulasekara lbw but the ball appeared to be sliding down leg side and replays confirmed it was a poor decision.
All the same, Christian became the fourth Australia player to take on ODI hat-trick after Bruce Reid, Anthony Stuart and Brett Lee, and the first since Lee achieved the feat in the World Cup against Kenya in Durban in March 2003. He had already collected the wicket of Angelo Mathews, who skied a catch to Xavier Doherty at long-on.
But Thirimanne was good enough to help Sri Lanka survive until the end of the 50th over, although he had fallen in the previous over when he played on trying to paddle-sweep Pattinson. Rangana Herath remained on 14 not out and Lasith Malinga was bowled from the last ball of the innings to give Christian his fifth wicket, but by batting out their time Sri Lanka ensured that the efforts of Sangakkara and Chandimal were not wasted.
Chandimal was the more aggressive man in their partnership and he brought up his half-century from his 47th delivery with a glanced single off Clint McKay, before Sangakkara registered his in the same over from his 79th ball. Throughout his innings, Sangakkara had been in no hurry and didn't score a boundary until his 55th delivery, when he punched Ben Hilfenhaus forward of point.
His runs came largely through ones and twos and it was an important stabilising performance after Sri Lanka were 2 for 17. Sangakkara fell for 64 when he top-edged a pull off Pattinson, and his departure slowed Chandimal down. He was out for 75 from 84 when he too was beaten by the pace of Pattinson, lobbing a ball to mid-off.
Chandimal had been willing to play his strokes and he brought the crowd to life with a muscular shot that sailed straight over the head of the bowler Christian and crashed into the sightscreen. Another followed off the spin of Xavier Doherty, over long-on this time, and Chandimal spent most of his time hovering around the run-a-ball mark.
The first wicket had come through a Sri Lankan error, when Mahela Jayawardene bunted the ball just behind him and was called through for a single by Tillakaratne Dilshan. But David Hussey ran across from second slip to collect the ball and threw down the stumps at the non-striker's end, removing Jayawardene for 5.
Dilshan had been at fault in the run-out and he didn't manage to make up for it in his own innings. He edged behind for 9 when Pattinson, in his first match back in the national side since the Sydney Test two months ago, got a ball to bounce a fraction more than Dilshan expected in the fifth over of the game.
Pattinson had returned at the expense of Brett Lee, while Shane Watson was again asked to captain Australia with Michael Clarke not risked ahead of the finals. Sri Lanka made one forced change with the offspinner Senanayake brought in for his sixth match of the series, replacing Farveez Maharoof, who had a back injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment