Lasith Malinga and Angelo Mathews Produce Stunning Partnership to Win 1st ODI against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746
The last three ODIs around the world have produced spellbinding cricket which has kept the viewers glued to the action till the very end; these games have been fantastic advertisement for the 50-overs game.
After Abdul Razzaq’s heroics in the 2nd ODI between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, the two teams played another thriller that was won by South Africa on the last ball of the match, before the Australians and Sri Lankans
joined in the fun at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The picturesque venue, which has been host to some incredible games over the years, witnessed another dramatic tie that was won by the tourists with only one wicket standing.
The Sri Lankans were down and out in their chase of 240 runs; they were tottering at 107/8 before a world record stand for the 9th wicket between all-rounder Angelo Mathews and fast bowler Lasith Malinga brought them
within close range of an improbable win that was completed when last man Muttiah Muralitharan struck a four in the second ball of the 45th over to spark wild celebrations in his team’s camp.
At the end of the match, Australian captain Michael Clarke summed up his frustration saying that he had no idea as to how his team lost the match.
"Tough day in the office. 8 for 107. I honestly don't know how we lost this game. I thought we could have done better with the bat, but from 8 for 107... Having said that, full credit must go to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. Mathews played a fantastic
innings, and we just couldn’t stop Malinga. Mohali didn't come to my mind, certainly not. I tried to bowl almost everyone. Steven Smith hurt his back, so couldn't bring him back. I tried everything. Have you any tips?"
The Australians won the toss and opted to bat first in conditions that looked good for the batsmen; however, the hosts were not in for an easy ride as the Sri Lankans made inroads in their batting line-up at regular intervals.
Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 fell to Thisara Perera for 27 runs
(off 31 balls).
Haddin also fell to Perera in the 19th over when he was on 49, leaving his team placed at 88/3.
Cameron White became Perera’s third victim (in the same over) without even opening his account, and the Australians had crashed to 88/4 from 30/1.
Thisara Perera was in excellent form during this spell and the right-armer continued his golden run with the ball finishing with 5/46 (Steven Smith – 12 off 15 balls - and John Hastings – 16 off 15 balls - being his final two victims)
in 8 overs. This was his second five-wicket haul in ODIs.
Rocked by Perera, the Australians failed to get away with an imposing total and were restricted to 239/8 in the allotted 50 overs. They had Mike Hussey to thank for that, who scored an unbeaten 71 off 91 balls to push his team
to a competitive total.
The Sri Lankans started their chase disastrously and were left reeling at 107/8 before Mathews and Malinga launched one of the greatest fight-backs in ODI history.
Before them, Captain Kumar Sangakkara was the only one who looked in control, scoring a belligerent 49 off 46 balls. Openers Tharanga (run out after scoring 3 runs) and Dilshan (7 runs off 6 balls) could not even get into double
figures.
The Australians were well served by debutant spinner Xavier Doherty, who captured 4 wickets (in his ten overs, conceding only 46 runs) to rock the Islanders.
Malinga and Mathews started having fun almost at the start of their partnership; whatever they tried worked and some big shots pulverised the Australians, who were feeling that they had the game in the back, just like they had
it when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 scored 92 runs for the last two wickets on the last day of the first Test last month to score an incredible win.
Malinga scored his maiden half-century and was run out with only 1 run needed for a win. His innings of 56 (off 48 balls) included 6 fours and 2 sixes.
On the other hand, man of the match Angelo Mathews scored an unbeaten 77 of 84 balls; he also hit a glorious 6 off Mitchell Johnson besides striking 8 fours in his innings.
The Sri Lankans completed their dramatic win in the 45th over when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 struck a boundary with the scores tied.
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