Australia’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Knight-c71599 in the Shiny Armour: Clint McKay
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 at Brisbane, on November 7th. This game practically held no importance for the Sri Lankans,
who have already won the series by beating the Aussies in the first two matches. On the contrary, Australia only had their pride to save in this last competitive match before the Ashes.
It was Victoria’s 27-year-old fast-medium bowler Clint Mckay, who came out as a hero for Australia by rattling the Sri Lankan batsmen, taking five wickets for just thirty-three runs. Along with Clint Mckay, it was the left-arm
fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who ran havoc on the Lankan batsmen. Starc finished off with four wickets for twenty-seven runs in his nine overs. Together, McKay and Starc proved to be unplayable as the visitors were all out after scoring 115 runs in thirty-two
overs on a bouncy pitch.
Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to put a big total on the board. However, the Sri Lankan skipper’s plans were shot down by the devastating bowling of the Australian duo.
The initial damage was done by McKay, who took three early wickets of Tillakaratne Dilshan (1 off 4 balls), Kumar Sangakkara (0 off 4 balls) and Mahela Jayawardene (0 off 3 balls). With the top batsmen back in the pavilion, Sri
Lanka were clearly in a struggling position.
After the initial onslaught by McKay, it was time for the newcomer Mitchell Starc to unleash his destructive bowling on the visitors. Starc cleaned off Chamara Silva, Sri Lanka’s all rounder sensation Angelo Mathews and Jeevan
Mendis. After these wickets fell, it was an easy cruise for the Australians.
Though the score was not much of a chase, however, Australia still lost two wickets – Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who not only
managed to halt Australia’s losing streak, 7 internationals in a row, but also scored an unbeaten fifty off fifty-one balls.
The struggling skipper has clicked at a very crucial moment when the Aussies are set to face the dominant English side in the Ashes. Over the last few weeks Clarke has been heavily criticised for his poor form and captaincy. This
particular innings should give him enough encouragement before facing the destructive English bowlers such as Stuart Broad and James Anderson in the first Test at Brisbane on November 5th.
Meanwhile, Clint McKay now has a perfect opportunity to impress Australia’s Test selectors by playing for his side http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 before the naming of the Test squad by November 15.
The fast bowler will be keen to show his full potential against New South Wales to make it to the national squad, and after his performance against the Sri Lankans, he can surely be an asset against the English side who have come
to Australia with all their batsmen in a good nick. Under such circumstances, Australia will need the services of pace bowlers such as Clint McKay to put a crack in the English batting line-up.
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