AUSSIES SURVIVE FRIGHT
Nuwan Kulasekara slammed a whirlwind 73 off 43 balls and together with recalled Upul Tharanga led a sensational late order fightback that turned what appeared to be a cakewalk for Australia into a nail-biting thriller before finally going down fighting by 15 runs in the first of the bestof-three finals at the Gabba here yesterday.
The bowler turned batsman pulverized the strong Australian attack, clubbing seven fours and three sixes to make his career-best score while partnering Tharanga who made a solid 60 in a 104-run seventh wicket stand in a mere 11 overs. This unexpected assault reversed the rapid Australian march towards victory after Sri Lanka had fallen to a hopeless 144 for 6 by the 31st over in reply to a mammoth Australia score of 321 for six.
Sri Lanka’s amazing fighting spirit has given a few worries to Australian skipper Michael Clarke as the two teams head now to Adelaide for the next two games scheduled for Tuesday and if necessary on Thursday
"They continue not to quit unfortunately, they are very wellskilled" Clarke said after the match.
"I’m pleased we won the game, but we`ve got some work to do to- morrow," Clarke observed as he was also concerned about the next venue.
"We got to the Adelaide Oval, which would probably suit the Sri Lankans more than the Gabba," he said.
Despite the defeat Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene was overjoyed with the fortitude of his charges.
"We`ve been playing some really good cricket, we fought till the end. It`s a good attitude to have. It was an incredible partnership” Jayawardene said. Jayawardene probably missed Sri Lanka’s number one finisher Angelo Mathews who did not play due to injury.
"Kule did very well, lots of positives for us to take from this. When Upul got out, that probably put us back a bit. If there was a batsman left till the end, who knows?" he said.
Upul Tharanga who usually opens the innings came in at an alien number six slot with the team gasping for breath which obviously was not the ideal time to come in and go out blazing for a man who had been dropped for the last few games due to poor form.
Tharanga hit only three boundaries in his 67-ball stay but proved a strong ally to Kualsekara’s blitzkrieg that completely revived the visitors.
Clarke hoped that this scare would jolt his players up.
"It hasn't been good enough all series. It continues to let us down. We are the No.1 oneday team and we have to be better than that. Hopefully that (scare) allows us to understand that we have to be better than that” said Clarke.
"At 6-144 I was thinking you can't lose the game from that position," Clarke said adding "A win is a win. But we have a lot of work to do with our power play and death bowling.
Veteran paceman Brett Lee (3 for 59) did the early damage while part time off spinner David Hussey (4 for 43) proved a shock threat to restrict Sri Lanka before the late order revival.
After Kulasekara and Tharanga departed, Dhammika Prasad (31 not out) kept the hopes alive but Shane Watson (3-33) finally turned the finish in Australia’s way with some intelligent bowling.
"Watson saved us once again, we are glad to have him back in the team, this effort shows his class" said Clarke.
Earlier, David Warner smashed a record 163 to propel Australia to an imposing total.
The 25-year old left hander who was struggling to keep his place in the side, broke the shackles in style as he blasted his maiden ODI century in his 19th career match.
Warner who had a moderate tournament averaging just 24.37, was lucky to make it into the playing XI yesterday as Australian skipper Michael Clarke returned to the side after being sidelined through injury. The home side opted to leave out their only centurion of the tournament David Forrest to keep Warner.
The opener paid back for the faith placed on him, clobbering the third highest ODI score in Australia and hit the sixth biggest ODI score by an Australian - and highest ever at the Gabba.
Warner plundered 13 fours and two sixes in 157 balls and was bowled by Dhammika Prasad in the last ball of the innings.
Warner and fellow left hander Matthew Wade (64) gave Australia a magnificent start after they decided to bat, putting on a 136run opening stand in 23 overs.
Rangana Herath at long-on pulled off an astounding single handed catch while diving backwards to removxs assault unabated while the other Australian batsmen provided him perfect support.though scattered thunderstorms had been the forecast, the weather mainly kept fine apart from two brief rain delays while the 42,000 capacity stadium recorded a dismal attendance of just 12,196 for the tournament final.australia thus kept their perfect record against Sri Lanka at the venue where Sri Lanka have never beaten the hosts in history.