Paceman Clint McKay bowled Australia to a 16-run victory over Sri Lanka to capture the one-day international tri-series in the third final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday. Man of the match McKay claimed five wickets for 28 off 9.5 overs to go with his 28 off 32 balls in Australia’s innings as he proved the winning difference over the World Cup finalists.
Australia looked as though their total would not be enough when they were dismissed for 231 with three balls left of their 50 overs. But inspired bowling by McKay, backed up by veteran paceman Brett Lee’s three wickets, squeezed the home side across the line. “We had to bowl and field very well and we certainly did that tonight,” skipper Shane Watson said. “That’s a serious performance to be able to defend 231 on that wicket, so I am very proud of all the boys. “Clint McKay was absolutely brilliant tonight. It’s great to see someone like him bowl so well.” The Australians head to the West Indies on Friday buoyed by their victory, which came on top of a 4-0 thumping of India in the Test series to complete an arduous international season at home. McKay helped rescue Australia following a middle-batting collapse that ruined hopes of a big total after Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene had won the toss and sent the home side into bat.
The Victorian paceman, mixing it up with deceptive slower deliveries out of the back of his hand, snared his best one-day figures in a match-winning performance. McKay bowled Jayawardene for 15 and trapped the dangerous Dinesh Chandimal leg before wicket for five, before claiming the wickets of Chamara Kapugedera, Rangana Herath and last man Lasith Malinga.
A fired-up Lee snared the initial two victims — man-of-the-series Tillakaratne Dilshan (eight) and the experienced Kumar Sangakkara (19 off nine balls) before later taking the key wicket of big-hitting Nuwan Kulasekara for 15. Upul Tharanga, batting at number six, hit a resilient 71 off 122 balls before he was caught behind off stand-in captain Watson in the 46th over.
“I thought we did really well” in the field, Jayawardene said. “It was a good total to chase. “The important thing was to make sure that we had a couple of partnerships up front but we lost three, four wickets very quickly and it was a tough task for the rest of the boys to try and win through.
“They almost did and they showed a lot of character, but the Australians had the upper hand and deserved to win.” Watson took over the captaincy after Michael Clarke was ruled out with an injured left hamstring, which will also see him miss Australia’s ODI series against the West Indies next week. Earlier, opening batsman Matthew Wade topscored for Australia with 49 off 74 deliveries and batting partner David Warner hit 48 off 45. The home side got away to a breezy start with Wade and Warner scoring 75 off the opening 14 overs, but their progress stalled as Sri Lanka’s bowlers and fielders, coupled with Jayawardene’s imaginative captaincy, reeled in the Australians’ run-rate.
