SYDNEY: Sri Lanka claimed their first-ever series success in Australia with a win against Ricky Ponting’s team in the rain-marred second one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday.
The Sri Lankans won by 29 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method after several rain interruptions and followed their stunning one-wicket victory in the opening match in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka condemned Australia to a seventh straight international defeat in all forms of the game by scoring 213 for three off 41.4 overs and then bowling the home side out for 210 off 37.4 overs. “There’s a lot to be taken out of the way we played these games,” Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara said.
Opening batsman Upul Tharanga was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten top score of 86 while veteran spinner Muttiah Muralitharan claimed two wickets to take his career ODI tally to 517 wickets.
Ponting’s team have one more chance to break their demoralising run of losses — the longest since the 1996-97 season — before this month’s Ashes Test series against England in the final match of the ODI series against Sri Lanka in Brisbane on Sunday.
“I know it’s seven straight games but it’s over a long period of time in different formats,” Ponting said. “We have to start playing the brand of cricket we know we can play and getting the winning feeling back again.
“We haven’t had it for a while.”
Tharanga showed steely powers of concentration to regroup after a lengthy rain delay to remain unbeaten in his 112-ball knock in Sri Lanka’s innings after winning the toss. A 90-minute downpour reduced the match to 45 overs per side, but a much heavier shower later ended Sri Lanka’s innings prematurely.
Angelo Mathews, the hero of Sri Lanka’s astonishing one-wicket victory over Australia in Melbourne, remained 17 not out off 11 balls.
Sri Lanka’s openers put on 98 runs for the first wicket before Tillakaratne Dilshan was trapped lbw as he attempted to slog-sweep off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in the 20th over.
