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    Australia hold nerve for thrilling win against Sri Lanka

    CB Series: Sri Lanka fall 5 runs short of Australia in the 3rd ODI

    Yahoo! Cricket – Fri, Feb 10, 2012


    Scorecard / Action in images

    Perth, February 10, 2012 (AFP) - Australian captain Michael Clarke's inspired start to 2012 continued Australia's Michael Clarkewhen he led his side to victory over Sri Lanka in their tri-series one-day international at the WACA Ground on Friday.

    Man of the match Clarke had an impact with both bat and ball as Australia won by five runs to remain unbeaten after two outings in the triangular tournament.

    Australia made 231 from 49.1 overs and in reply Sri Lanka was dismissed for 226 from 49.5 overs, after a last-wicket stand almost snatched an unlikely win for the tourists. The Sri Lankans appeared to do a good job with the ball after captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to field, Clarke top scoring with a polished 57.

    Some superb fielding helped the Sri Lankan cause, with a couple of fine catches, highlighted by Nuwan Kulasekara's brilliantly athletic caught and bowled to remove the dangerous Michael Hussey for 23.

    However, last year's beaten World Cup finalists were not as effective with the bat and looked headed for certain defeat at 180 for nine, still needing 51 to win. But Angelo Mathews and Dhammika Prasad put on 46 for the last wicket to threaten to snatch an incredible win.

    The pair needed 18 to win from the final over and Mathews hit the first two Mitchell Starc deliveries for four and six to narrow the equation to eight from four balls. Two singles left them chasing six from the last two balls, but Mathews (64) holed out to Daniel Christian on the long on boundary from the penultimate ball to hand the relieved Australians a thrilling victory.

    Angelo Mathews took SL close but couldn't cross the finish lineThe Sri Lankans earlier appeared to be cruising at 61-1, but suffered a major blow when Kumar Sangakkara was run out for 22 in an ugly mix-up with opener Tillakaratne Dilshan (40). They found it hard to recover from the loss of their most prolific batsman and Clarke's inspired season continued when he brought himself on for a rare bowl in the 31st over.

    Dinesh Chandimal was on 37 and appeared to be Sri Lanka's last real hope of victory, but he was trapped leg before wicket by Clarke's first delivery.

    Australia has not lost in six matches, four Tests and two one-day internationals, this year under Clarke, their only defeat a Twenty20 loss to India under the leadership of George Bailey.

    The skipper also made 626 runs at 125.20 in the recent 4-0 Test whitewash of India. His half-century helped Australia recover from the early loss of opener Matthew Wade and Ricky Ponting, both dismissed for one as the home side started poorly to be 26-2.

    Opener David Warner blasted 34 from 29 balls before being bowled by Angelo Mathews (2-37), while David Hussey (27) and Dan Christian (33) both made promising starts but weren't able to convert them into substantial totals.

    The 56-run partnership between Clarke and Christian for the sixth wicket was the highest of the innings, but tailenders Clint McKay (25) and Mitchell Starc (14) added 32 ultimately valuable runs for the ninth wicket.

    The next match sees India face Australia in Adelaide on Sunday.

     

    34 comments

    • mai
      mai  •  3 months ago
      Hats of to mathews and prasad for tremendous fighting spirit
      Hats of to Australian bowlers for super bowling in death overs
      Ye sab dekh kar ek baat to kaheni padegi
      Australia ko harana namumkin nahi magar buhot mushkil hai
      Best of luck to India for up coming match
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        Let's see who wins the ASHES CUP! Your Australia or my ENGLAND. OBVIOUSLY my England!
      • mai
        mai 3 months ago
        abhi pak ke taraf se mile white wash ko to bhulo fir ashes cup jeetne ki baat karna aur mera Australia nahi ahi India hai samje.
      • Nigel
        Nigel 3 months ago
        Wah, wah, mai, bahut achhey! Lekin, sachin bhi toh indian hai na?
    • gaurv
      gaurv  •  New Delhi, India  •  3 months ago
      Well Tried
    • Srs_Rocker
      Srs_Rocker  •  3 months ago
      Tough luck for SriLankans, but it was a great effort — especially their bowling and fielding was superb today.
      • Raj
        Raj 3 months ago
        Yes their bowling was good, they failed in batting.
    • Dipak Ratanghayara
      Dipak Ratanghayara  •  3 months ago
      hard luck srilanka.
    • hsnbhatta
      hsnbhatta  •  Bangalore, India  •  3 months ago
      it was a thrilling defeat for lankans. from 45th over they should have cased the target in singles and twos. ok cricket and its fan won.
    • Nebureska
      Nebureska  •  Thane, India  •  3 months ago
      The Australian were very nervous,Michel Clarke didnt hide the nervousness.Sri Lanka lost Golden opportunity to beat Aussies.....The Seniors started the blunder in Batting....They bowled & fielded excellent....
    • pooja
      pooja  •  Mumbai, India  •  3 months ago
      ANGLEO MATHEWS YOU HAVE BATTED BRILLANTLY BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT IS STATED
      Sri Lanka won both tosses at Perth - in the match against India , they did not make India bat first , knowing fully well that India was suspect against fast bowling at Perth. Sri Lanka are slaves of the BCCI - they are paid to lose matches to India IPL makes up for all of this in terms of money and the entire sri Lankan team plays in the IPL. The decision to bat first in Perth against India after winning the toss was as shameful as making 4 changes to the team that played India in the World Cup finals. Sangakkara , Jayawardene , Malinga and Dilshan are among the biggest beneficiaries of the IPL and watch they way they play against India in important games. Clear signs of deliberate match fixing and throwing games.
      I have always doubted the WC final. 5 changes and then score 270 in a final and still
      manage to lose. BCCI did buy teh WC or else IPL would have been a DISASTER.Key SL players were made captain and paid handsomely in IPL
      • B.Sathish
        B.Sathish 3 months ago
        Wonderful observation, you are absolutely right!
      • Kiran Kumar c
        Kiran Kumar c 3 months ago
        Shut Up Pooja. You better educate yourself about cricket. Don't comment, just for the sake of it. India Did Won the WC Final By Good Batting. Jayawardene Batted Superbly for 100+ Runs. And Mumbai pitch is Good for Batting. Every Indian Knows it. So u Better Keep Quit.
      • Chandu
        Chandu 3 months ago
        Is there any mental hospital for Pooja in Mumbai ? If there is not one, come to bangalore for free hospitalisation and appropriate treatment..
    • Raj
      Raj  •  Gwalior, India  •  3 months ago
      Had srilanka won this match, the series would have turned more interesting. Srilanka played really well, we need to learn how they bowled to Aus. Angelo Mathews has a long way to go.
      • Manasa
        Manasa 3 months ago
        dnt worry.. SL will Win all matches in future
    • Ashwani
      Ashwani  •  3 months ago
      india ka kya hoga ?
    • shanumga
      shanumga  •  Mumbai, India  •  3 months ago
      Angelo must have given MOM, i don't why Clarke is awarded. Because Angelo showed better with bat & ball than Clarke.....
    • Nigel
      Nigel  •  Mumbai, India  •  3 months ago
      Wait and watch. It's gonna get very, very interesting.
    • Abhishek
      Abhishek  •  Bangalore, India  •  3 months ago
      Angelo matthews fought gallantly for his team but unfortunately fall short by wickets tumbling from another end.He is a fighter angelo...and a great ambassador for his country.
      BAD LUCK SRI LANKA ...:)YOU TRULY DESERVE TO WIN THIS CONTEST:)
    • Sampath
      Sampath  •  Bangalore, India  •  3 months ago
      Angelo mathews has done a wonderful job ,tried his best to bring a victory for his team, but unfortunately caught out at long on
    • A Yahoo! User  •  San Francisco, United States  •  3 months ago
      Does any one know the rules for qualification to the final in case of 2 way tie
      or a 3 way tie. Is it NRR or Head to Head result.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 months ago
      Sanga is a poor runner & a poor catcher as i mentioned it several times earlier as well. If he can't run well with youngsters & Dilshan, better giving chances to youngsters coming up the order and he him-self coming down the order.
    • Chanaka
      Chanaka  •  Colombo, Sri Lanka  •  3 months ago
      seniors ddnt do well enough to get through with it. AUSSI s balling line was perfect. what mahela said other night " balling line up isnt good as far concern about aussi team. he just said it & he himself couldn't score 20 runs at least. talking about MATHEWS he is a kind playes who can win matched in all former the game. really happy about you fella keep up the good work. all in all we have 65 matches left in the series. all two matches was very closed. we can make our minds & go further in a wining mood

      wish SRI LANKANS all the best
    • AYYAZ
      AYYAZ  •  Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  •  3 months ago
      It seems to look like victory to Srilanka as Jayawerdena said it is not difficult to beat them.I am quite sure they will beat Ausies in next games.
    • A Yahoo! User  •  3 months ago
      Being a class Captain, Though Mahela couldn't save 234 runs against IND, Clerk did it without mentioning laming excuses like they should have scored 20 to 25 runs.
    • Arrow
      Arrow  •  Chennai, India  •  3 months ago
      Srilanka's fighting spirit is lacking in Indian team, Kohli being an exception...
    • Nigel
      Nigel  •  Mumbai, India  •  3 months ago
      Tomorrow, round two. ding, ding!!
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