Lankans send Aussies downunder
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan hit robust
half-centuries as Sri Lanka sent Australia packing from the World
Twenty20 with a six-wicket win on Monday.
Australia, asked to bat by Sangakkara in his first match as captain,
managed only 159-9 in good batting conditions as mystery spinner Ajantha
Mendis and fast bowler Lasith Malinga claimed three wickets each.
Opener Dilshan then plundered 53 off 32 balls and left-handed
Sangakkara made an unbeaten 55 to fire Sri Lanka home with six
deliveries to spare.
Jehan Mubarak hit 21 not out to keep his captain company till the
end, which came when Mitchell Johnson sent down a wide off the first
delivery of the final over.
Ricky Ponting’s men, beaten by the West Indies in their first match,
bowed out of the tournament with their fifth successive Twenty20 defeat
and ample time in hand to prepare for next month’s Ashes series.
Sri Lanka and the West Indies, who take the two Super Eights places
from the group, play each other in the inconsequential last league match
on Wednesday.
Mendis, who turns the ball both ways without a visible change in his
bowling action, wrecked the top order in a match Australia had to win to
stay in the competition.
Slinger Malinga took care of the lower order as Australia collapsed
to 94-6 in the 15th over, before David Hussey and Johnson led a late
revival.
The pair put on 41 off 21 balls for the seventh wicket with Hussey
hitting 28 off 22 balls and Johnson smashing 38 off 13 with two fours
and as many sixes.
NOTTINGHAM, AFP
AUSTRALIA
S. Watson lbw b Mendis 22
D. Warner c Dilshan b Mathews 0
R. Ponting b Mendis 25
B. Haddin b Malinga 16
M. Clarke c and b Udana 11
D. Hussey c Jayasuriya b Udana 28
M. Hussey lbw b Mendis 1
M. Johnson not out 28
B. Lee b Malinga 15
N. Hauritz c Sangakkara b Malinga 4
N. Bracken not out 4
Extras: (w5) 5
TOTAL (9 wkts, 20 overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-48, 3-59, 4-74, 5-79, 6-94, 7-135, 8-151, 9-155.
Bowling: Mathews 2-0-10-1 (w2), Jayasuriya 2-0-17-0, Udana 4-0-47-2 (w1),
Malinga 4-0-36-3 (w2), Mendis 4-0-20-3, Muralitharan 4-0-29-0.
SRI LANKA
S. Jayasuriya c Warner b Lee 2
T. Dilshan b Clarke 53
K. Sangakkara not out 55
M. Jayawardene c Bracken b Hauritz 9
C. Silva c Ponting b Lee 11
J. Mubarak not out 21
Extras: (b1, w6, nb2) 9
TOTAL (4 wkts, 19 overs) 160
Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-81, 3-98, 4-127.
Bowling: Lee 4-0-39-2 (w3, nb2), Johnson 2-0-17-0 (w2), Bracken 4-0-33-0 (w1),
Watson 2-0-24-0, Hauritz 4-0-27-1, Clarke 3-0-19-1. |
