Australia clinch series comfortably
Australia bettered their ODI record in Sri Lanka beating the home side by five wickets in the fourth game to take unassailable 3-1 lead in the five match series. The tourists didn’t face major stutters to surpass Sri Lanka after it had bowled out the hosts for a dismal 132. Save for three wickets in one debutant Seekkuge Prasana over, Australia cruised on to achieve the target thanks to a sublime fifty from opener Shaun Marsh. Skipper Michael Clarke had another good day with the bat remaining unbeaten on a well constructed 38.
Replacing Steven Smith in the playing eleven, Marsh looked in control after Lasith Malinga had reduced Australia to 26 for 2. Malinga removed big guns Shane Watson and inform batsman Ricky Ponting to instill some hope into his side. The left handed Marsh though looked in great touch in his first game of the series creaming some lovely off-side and leg-side boundaries to put chase on the track. His skipper Clarke didn’t do anything fancy rotating the strike over ensuring Marsh faced as many as he can.
The pair put on 97 for the third wicket to put into rest Sri Lankan hopes of a miracle. Marsh hit eleven exquisite fours and a solitary six of Australian batting effort before becoming leg spinner Prasana’s first victim. The leggie made his debut game memorable by snaring Hussey brothers in the same over. He took three in four balls to add some drama to what was otherwise a lop-sided affair.During the bowling effort, it was all Australia though. Courtesy a combination of timid batting and some spirited bowling performance, Sri Lanka chances of drawing the series evaporated.
A dismal batting effort saw Sri Lanka skittled out for a paltry 132 with Brett Lee and Xavier Doherty scything through the batting, each getting four wickets. Mahela Jayawardene resisted the Australian charge with a fighting fifty but the wickets kept falling around him and Sri Lanka stumbled to below-par total on a track that offered little bit of spin.
Sri Lanka batted first for the fourth successive time in the series, Tilkerratne Dilshan teed off with a scorching drive on the up through covers but he was the first one to go, caught by Haddin off Bollinger. His opening partner, Upul Tharanaga was castled by Lee soon after as Sri Lanka were suddenly 24 for 2.
That brought veterans Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara together and the duo beagn to rebuild after the early blow, even though the latter was hit on the helmet by the very first delivery he faced. The experienced pair understood that it was not a pitch where runs would come in a hurry, instead the batsmen needed to spend some time in the middle. They concentrated on ones and two gradually taking their team to safety. At 95 for two in the 25th over, the hosts were in a decent position, what followed was a spectacular collapse with eight wickets falling for just 37 runs. Without the 71 run stand between Sanga and Mahela, Sri Lanka could have ended with an embarrassing score.
Sangakkara fell trying to up the scoring rate for 31, out-of-form Chamara Silva was trapped in-front of the stumps by Doherty and Angelo Mathews was stumped off the same bowler as Sri Lankan batting hit a wall. Mahela Jayawardene kept his calm to score a fifty, but the tail caved in without much of a fight. There were one or two lose shots, however, Lee and Doherty were simply too good for the Sri Lankan batsmen. They were bowled out inside 40 overs, the 132 they got was never going to be enough
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