Sri Lanka beat Australia by 20 runs in their Champions Trophy Group A match on Monday to reach the semi-final.
Sri Lanka managed to reach 253-8 off 50 overs all due to the sublime batting of Mahela Jayawardene 84 not out and with the supporting L.Thirimanne 57. Michael Johnson was the pick of Australian bowlers with three for 48. In reply Australia nearly pulled the match but fell short of 20 runs with its tail fighting to 233 all out off 42.3 overs. A.Voges who scored 49 sent jitters in the Sri Lanka ranks. Kulasekera took three wickets for 42 to be the highest wicket-taker. But it was Dilshan who ended the frustration with a caught and bowled move of CJ McKay at 30.
Dilshan was moving to his right, but the ball was hit to his left at a comfortable height, but he quickly changed direction and plucked it out from nowhere. It was drifting away from him all the time. It was a special catch to finally end Australia’s resistance and the Aussies and the Kiwis hope of reaching the semi-final.
As Mahela Jayawardene strode beyond 11,000 ODI runs, he made enough at The Oval to leave Australia with a near impossible task to elbow past Sri Lanka and New Zealand and so qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals.
Sri Lanka’s innings flirted with mediocrity in the face of some diligent Australian bowling until Jayawardene’s delayed arrival, which signalled a late innings surge to 253 for 8. Lahiru Thirmanne had been promoted ahead of Jayawardene at an uncertain 20 for 2, and the switch allowed the senior man to make merry in the later overs against the older ball.
George Bailey’s side must now pass this total within 29.1 overs in order to lift their net run rate to a high enough level to reach the knockout phase. It is an exceptionally tall task on a drying surface, which offered enough assistance for Xavier Doherty to return the figures of 1 for 30 from his 10 overs. By contrast, Sri Lanka simply need to win to ensure their qualification ahead of New Zealand.
Mitchell Johnson was swift and Clint McKay accurate in the early overs after Bailey sent the Sri Lankans in, and a pair of early wickets were adequate reward. But Sri Lanka rebuilt through Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan, before Jayawardene played with his familiar blend of art and invention to take the total beyond 250, after 200 had appeared a more likely tally for much of the innings.
Both sides named unchanged line-ups for the match, Australia’s options reduced for the fixture by their captain Michael Clarke’s continued absence due to back trouble, while David Warner was ruled out by his suspension for punching Joe Root in a Birmingham pub after the opening match against England. Mitchell Starc was another absentee.
The Oval pitch was brown, but overcast skies and a desire to know his eventual target encouraged Bailey to send Sri Lanka in. Johnson’s first two deliveries of the match were poor; the first clattered to the backward point boundary, the second scuttling to fine leg off the pads. But his third was straight and too quick for Kusal Perera, who was clearly LBW.
Kumar Sangakkara hinted at the genius that had guided Sri Lanka to a stirring chase against England on this ground last week, but found himself tied down by McKay’s persistent line and subtle movement. Having already chanced a desperate single, Sangakkara was offered a fraction of extra width and lashed out, but managed only to slice a drive to Glenn Maxwell.
At that moment Australia could envision a slim target, but Thirimanne was sent in to steady the innings in Dilshan’s company, leaving Jayawardene in reserve. A serviceable job was done, gaps found every now and then the Australian bowlers were not gifted any wickets. It took Doherty to split them with a ball that straightened just enough to take an edge, Watson diving alertly to his right.
Angelo Mathews played a halting innings in Jayawardene’s company before losing his off bail to a nicely pitched delivery from James Faulkner, but Dinesh Chandimal was busier and more effective in a fifth-wicket stand of 65 in 56 balls. The Australians fielded soundly enough and did not bowl too much that was loose, but were left to marvel at Jayawardene’s knack for manipulating the field as the score mounted.
In what is becoming a familiar pattern, the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade became embroiled in a profane joust with Jayawardene late in the innings, and 94 runs from the final 13 overs left the Australians hoping for something miraculous.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka
MDKJ Perera lbw b Johnson 4
TM Dilshan c Watson b Doherty 34
KC Sangakkara c Maxwell b McKay 3
HDRL Thirimanne c Watson b Johnson 57
DPMD Jayawardene not out 84
AD Mathews b Faulkner 12
LD Chandimal c Hughes b Johnson 31
KMDN Kulasekara run out (Maxwell/†Wade) 6
HMRKB Herath run out (Marsh/Faulkner) 2
SL Malinga not out 2
Extras (b 5, lb 7, w 4, nb 2) 18
Total (8 wickets; 50 overs) 253
Did not bat RMS Eranga
Fall of wickets 1-8 (Perera, 0.3 ov), 2-20 (Sangakkara, 3.2 ov), 3-92 (Dilshan, 22.2 ov), 4-128 (Thirimanne, 31.3 ov), 5-159 (Mathews, 36.6 ov), 6-224 (Chandimal, 46.2 ov), 7-234 (Kulasekara, 47.4 ov), 8-244 (Herath, 49.1 ov)
Bowling: MG Johnson 10-0-48-3, CJ McKay 10-1-51-1, JP Faulkner 9-0-60-1, SR Watson 4-0-14-0, XJ Doherty 10-1-30-1, MR Marsh 2-0-12-0, GJ Maxwell 5-0-26-0
Australia
SR Watson b Kulasekara 5
PJ Hughes c Sangakkara b Kulasekara 13
GJ Maxwell b Malinga 32
GJ Bailey run out (Kulasekara) 4
AC Voges c Eranga b Herath 49
MR Marsh b Mathews 4
MS Wade c Dilshan b Kulasekara 31
JP Faulkner c Sangakkara b Herath 17
MG Johnson c Kulasekara b Eranga 4
CJ McKay c & b Dilshan 30
XJ Doherty not out 15
Extras (lb 11, w 17, nb 1) 29
Total (all out; 42.3 overs) 233
Fall of wickets 1-9 (Watson, 1.2 ov), 2-45 (Hughes, 5.2 ov), 3-59 (Maxwell, 6.3 ov), 4-69 (Bailey, 8.3 ov), 5-80 (Marsh, 12.6 ov), 6-127 (Wade, 19.1 ov), 7-163 (Faulkner, 23.6 ov), 8-168 (Johnson, 24.6 ov), 9-192 (Voges, 30.2 ov), 10-233 (McKay, 42.3 ov)
Bowling: RMS Eranga 8-1-40-1, KMDN Kulasekara 9-0-42-3, SL Malinga 9-0-60-1, HMRKB Herath 10-0-48-2, AD Mathews 3-0-21-1, TM Dilshan 3.3-0-11-1
Toss Australia, who chose to field
Points Sri Lanka 2, Australia 0
Umpires M Erasmus (South Africa) and AL Hill (New Zealand)
TV umpire Aleem Dar (Pakistan)
Match referee J Srinath (India)
Reserve umpire BF Bowden (New Zealand)
At last Sri Lanka made it's way to the semis by beating up the australian team in an elimination match. Now Sri Lanka has to face India in the semi final match, it will be quite tough, both of the teams have performed very good in the tournament now just wait and watch what happens in couple of days.
Comments are closed.