Sri Lanka v Australia - 3rd One Day International – Match Summary
Sri Lanka 286/9 (50 ov) v Australia 208 (44.2 ov) - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 won by 78 runs
Hosts Sri Lanka bounced back in the five-match One Day International (ODI) series after beating the visitors Australia in the third one-day game of the tournament by 78 runs at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota.
After winning the toss, Australia who were up 2-0 in the series chose to field first in a bid to restrict the hosts on a meagre tally. However, Sri Lanka knew that it was a do or die situation for them and they needed to win the match at any cost to keep
the series alive.
The Lankan openers provided an outstanding opening stand against Australia as the batsmen http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TM-Dilshan-c2691 exhibited splendid shots all around the park, reducing the Aussie pace attack into mincemeat.
The ground was lit up by the awesome performance from the openers as they forged an opening stand of 139 runs. The Australians were completely taken aback by the uncontrollable batting onslaught that was wreaking havoc on them as they did not have any idea
how to halt the Sri Lankans from taking the game away from them.
It was then in the 26th over when Australia finally managed to put tabs on the Sri Lankans by dismissing their skipper Dilshan, who after playing a knock of 55 runs off 59 deliveries fell to his demise while trying to pull the Aussie pacer Doug
Bollinger.
It was then the former skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KC-Sangakkara-c1779 who took the field and forged yet another lucrative partnership with Tharanga to put pressure on the Australians who looked rusty in the field. Both batsmen posted 81 runs in the second wicket partnership as
they took the Australian bowling attack apart, giving the fans plenty to cheer about.
At the time the two batsmen were batting it seemed as if Sri Lanka were going to end the innings after posting a huge tally on the board, however, the Men in Gold struck again for the second time in the match by grabbing the wicket of Sangakkara who after
playing a commendable knock of 49 runs off 37 deliveries was given leg-before-wicket on a delivery bowled by Bollinger in the 39th over. At the time of the batsman’s wicket, the Lankans had scored 220 runs for the loss of two wickets. In the same
over Bollinger struck again by dismissing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LD-Chandimal-c1831 on four runs.
Meanwhile, opener Tharanga kept his foot on the paddle as he continued to punish the Australian bowlers. In the 40th over the Aussies managed to break the partnership between Tharanga and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/DPMD-Jayawardene-c1397 when Bollinger finally managed to grab
Tharanga’s wicket after the batsman had played a sensational innings of 111 runs off 139 deliveries.
In the end, the Lankans posted a tally of 286 runs for the Australians to overcome in this crucial match.
Coming out to bat, the Australians knew that they needed to keep wickets in hand to win the game. However, just when the side had posted six runs on the board they suffered their first loss when opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Watson-c2558 after playing a knock of five runs was
caught at first slip by Jayawardene off the bowling of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SL-Malinga-c2540.
In the seventh over, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BJ-Haddin-c1170 was also dismissed by the hosts as he walked back to the pavilion after playing a knock of five runs off 20 deliveries.
Former skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978 then brought some stability in the middle-order as the batsmen tried to take the team through the required total.
However, the Lankans struck again in the 13th over by grabbing the wicket of Ponting when the batsman after playing a knock of 22 runs off 27 deliveries was caught and bowled by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ranaweera-Mudiyanselage-Shaminda-Eranga-c83939.
Later, Clarke and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 tried to save the side from an imminent defeat; however, the Sri Lankans were just too good for the Aussies as Clarke fell to his demise after knocking 46 runs with the bat. At the time of his wicket, the Australians had
managed to post 123 runs on the board for the loss of four wickets.
After http://www.senore.com/Cricket/S-Randiv-c2396
off the bowling of Malinga.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 were all out after posting 208 runs on the board as they were completely outplayed by the home side.
Tharanga was named as the Man of the Match for playing a superb innings with the bat that actually enabled Sri Lanka to secure a win in the crucial match.
The two teams will now meet in the fourth match of the series on 20 August, 2011 at Colombo.
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