Brave Srilanka goes down fighting

Srilanka went down in the first final of the Commonwealth Banks series at Brisbane by 15 runs after their tail staged a massive fight back chasing 322 to win. Australia won the toss and chose to bat first on a placid looking track.

The hosts had regular skipper, Michael Clarke, returning to the playing XI at the expense of in-form Peter Forrest while Brett Lee also made a return after being rested from the last league game against the same opponents. He came in at the expense of Clint
McKay.

Srilanka has Upul Tharanga back in the starting XI in place of injured Thisara Perera and Farveez Maharoof also returned in place of Angelo Matthews. Fast bowler, Dhamika Prasad was also included in the playing XI at the expense of leg spinner, Sachithra
Senanayake.

David Warner and Matthew Wade opened the batting for Australia and added 136 runs for the first wicket before a Rangana Herath ‘special’ signalled Wade’s departure for 64. Shane Watson and Warner added 52 for the second wicket before Watson skied a delivery
from Maharoof into the hands of Lahiru Thirimanne.

Daniel Christian did not last longer and made only 10 before being caught by Kumar Sangakkara off Prasad. David Hussey managed only 1 before being caught & bowled by Herath. Clarke scored a quick-fire 37 off 25 balls before getting caught off Lasith Malinga
by his counterpart, Mahela Jayawardena.

Michael Hussey smashed his way to 19 off 10 balls and stayed not out. Warner was undoubtedly the highlight of the innings with his 163 off 157 balls including 13 fours and two sixes. He was out on the last bowl of the innings by Prasad.

Prasad picked up two wickets in his seven overs while Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekara, Maharoof and Herath picked up a wicket each. Tillikaratne Dilshan was the most economical of the six bowlers having conceded 35 runs in his 9 overs.

Srilanka made a breezy start to their innings courtesy of Jayawardena and Dilshan but soon lost their way as both the openers fell in quick succession off Lee. Sangakkara and Dinesh Chandimal tried to resurrect the Lankan innings but failed to do so as Srilanka
slumped to 144-6 in 30 overs.

The Lankan tailenders staged an unlikely comeback courtesy of Kulasekara and Tharanga. Both added 104 for the seventh wicket before the former lost his way for a surprising 73 off 43 balls which included seven fours and three sixes.

Tharanga and Prasad added 37 for the eighth wicket before Tharanga got out for 60 off 67 balls. Prasad smacked a few hefty blows but failed to guide his team over the line. He remained not-out with 31 off 21 balls. Malinga and Herath failed to stick with
the fast bowler and gave their wickets away as Lanka went down by 15 runs.

David Hussey picked up four wickets while Lee and Watson bagged three. Australia now lead the best-of-three finals 1-0 and will host Srilanka in the second final at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, March 6.

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Posted by Taha Habib on Mar 5 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry