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Australia vs Sri Lanka: SF

Wednesday, March 19 2003

Australia demolished a below-par Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth as they proved that the ability to play in adverse conditions is as important as the ability to win in those that suit you. On the back of a superb innings from Andrew Symonds and some devastating bowling from Brett Lee, Australia beat Sri Lanka convincingly as whilst there were period where they played well, they were never really in it.

The Australian innings got off to the best of starts with Adam Gilchrist belting anything remotely off-line to and over the fence, taking particular toll of Gunaratne, who had a day at the office, I’m sure he’d rather forget. Alas it wasn’t to last as Gilchrist fell to the spin of Aravinda de Silva, caught off an inside edge onto his pad by Sangakkara. The umpire initially gave Gilchrist not-out but in an extraordinary gesture of sportsmanship, he walked. This was all the more remarkable considering this is a World Cup semi-final and his wicket could have meant the difference between an average total and a very good one.

Ricky Ponting was the next to go as he checked a drive against Chaminda Vaas and spooned a catch to Sanath Jayasuriya at mid-off. Hayden tried to readdress the balance but was caught off another delivery, which held up on the pitch to leave Australia at 3/51 and in real danger of a total collapse.

Darren Lehmann and Andrew Symonds repaired the damage with a 93-run partnership in good time as they continually frustrated the Sri Lankan fielders with plenty of cheeky singles and twos. The rescue operation was just hitting full swing when Lehmann was surprisingly bowled off the inside edge from the bowling of Jayasuriya. Michael Bevan came and went for nought courtesy of a dubious decision for a catch behind as the spinners started to gain the ascendency in the match on an increasingly slow pitch, which made scoring very difficult. Vaas came back for a second spell and bowled superbly as Hogg and Harvey went in quick succession to put Sri Lanka firmly back in control.

Then THAT man Andrew Bichel (who has made Port Elizabeth his favourite ground surely) entered the grand stage and in support with Symonds, pushed the Australian total past 200 with a quick fire 19 as Symonds tried his hardest to raise the run-rate. On the back of a magnificent innings of 91* from Andrew Symonds, Australia totalled 212 and although on the surface it looked to be an average total, on that pitch it was always going to be a very difficult run-chase for Sri Lanka.

Andrew Symonds dominated the Australian batting and was never troubled. He gave only one chance in his innings and that was a stumping chance, which was missed by Kumar Sangakkara as the tempo of his innings ranged from sublime to brutal in the last few overs (one delivery from Jayasuriya ended up almost out of the ground from nothing more than a flick off the pads) as he continued his watershed tournament. The maturity evident in today’s innings suggests he may have finally cemented his place in this side.

Best of the Sri Lankan bowling was Chaminda Vaas. The leading wicket-taker for the tournament finished with 3/34 and was accurate, incisive and moved the ball around enough to ensure the Australians were never comfortable against him. Aravinda de Silva (2/36) and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya (2/42) also took vital wickets and although he didn’t take a wicket, Mutthiah Muralitharan (0/29) was treated with kid-gloves as the Australian batsmen looked to merely survive against him, rather than score.

One aspect of the Australian innings, which prevented it from getting a higher total was superb Sri Lankan fielding. Other than a missed stumping chance for Sangakkara, it was flawless as players such as Marvan Attapatu and Jayasuriya fielded superbly well and saved many boundaries.

The Sri Lankan innings started with a flourish (as usual) as Marvan Attapatu got amongst the bowling early in the piece with a quick fire 14 as he looked to get onto the front-foot and attack. However, Brett Lee put and end to his innings with a searing 160.1km/h thunderbolt, which hit his stumps well before he could get his bat up. Glenn McGrath got Jayasuriya on the pull-shot, Brett Lee picked up Hashan Tillekeratne and Dihan Gunawardene both caught behind and Andy Bichel ran out Aravinda de Silva at the keeper’s end in a magnificently athletic fielding display to leave Sri Lanka at 5/51 and their innings in tatters.

At this stage came the big slow down as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene batted as though they were trying to ‘save’ the match. It wasn’t long before a breakthrough came in the shape of a close-in catch by Gilchrist off a ball which ballooned off the inside edge and pad of Jayawardene for an easy catch. Russel Arnold came, batted slowly and went in his innings of 9 off 27 deliveries before Hogg induced him into hitting a catch in the deep to Brett Lee.

A recovery of sorts followed between Sangakkara and Chaminda Vaas as they patiently played themselves in against the tight Australian attack. They proved that with a little application, the Australian bowlers could be treated like any other bowlers, even on a helpful pitch.

Rained stopped play in the match as it looked like the Aussies were going to do this one easily. In the end, they did it easily as Sri Lanka lost the match by 48 runs.

Brett Lee was the best of the Australian bowlers with 3/35 and bowled with real fire on occasions. Hogg chipped in with 2/30 and bowled tightly. Andrew Bichel (0/9 off 7 overs) also bowled superbly and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket or two.

Australia 7/212 (A Symonds 91*, D Lehmann 36; W Vaas 3/34, A de Silva 2/34)

Sri Lanka 7/123 (K Sangakkara 39*, W Vaas 21*; B Lee 3/34, B Hogg 2/30)

Australia won by 48 runs (D/L)

Cricket Web Player of the Match: Andrew Symonds

Posted by Corey