The Lankan Lions' Journey

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Australia vs Sri Lanka - First ODI, Melbourne
First Inning ; Australia Batting


Michael Hussey plays a shot during his innings of 93

The match was on at the MCG as Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. Shane Watson and Tim Paine, the Australian openers came out to the middle. On the other hand, the new ball was given to the Lankan Lion, Lasith Malinga. Australia had a very quite start as Watson and Paine found it difficult to score against Sri Lanka's pace attack. The discomfort was clearly visible. The pitch seemed as if it would be good for batting but it wasn't. Tim Paine first got trapped in front of the off stump by Angelo Mathews followed by the wicket of Watson by Ajantha Mendis.

The fall of these two wickets brought in Ponting and Clarke respectively. These two experienced players played were very matured on the field. Not only did they put a break on the wickets but also accelerated the flow of runs. First Ponting then Clarke, both reached their half centuries in quick time.

The 60 odd runs partnership was broken by Malinga taking the wicket of Ponting. One would have thought that Ponting's wicket stop the flow of runs, but apparently, it proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Australians. The wicket of Ponting brought in Marsh who got out pretty cheaply.


Clarke and Hussey put on a huge partnership of 100 odd runs

Marsh was out and came Michael Hussey. The Michael - Michael pair put on a huge partnership of more than 100 runs. Later, Clarke got dismissed on a well made 85 of just 68. On the other hand, Hussey continued his flow of shots. Steven Smith and James Hopes too chipped in with small contributions but it was the Hussey magic which helped Australia to reach a huge score of 330 after 50 overs. Michael Hussey remained not out on 93 of 61 comprising of fourteen boundaries and two sixes.

A lot was expected from the Sri Lankan bowlers, but they couldn't deliver the best performance today. Malinga was too expensive, however, he managed to strike twice. Mathews and Kulasekara went wicket less along with being expensive. The ER crossed 7 which is considered too high in any ODI. Suraj Randiv was also expensive and couldn't take a single wicket. Mendis was good as he was pretty economical and took the important wicket of Watson.

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Australia vs Sri Lanka - First ODI, Melbourne
Second Inning ; Sri Lanka Batting


Doug Bollinger picked up four wickets and destroyed the Sri Lankan batting line up

Sri Lanka had to chase down a huge score of 331. A target this big can never be easy on any wicket. On the contrary, however big a target looks chase-able by the strong and demolishing Sri Lankan batting line up.

The openers Tillkaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene came out to the middle. Sanath Jaysurya had been kept in the middle order. Australia surprisingly made Shane Watson share the new ball with Doug Bollinger. Well, this gamble did not pay off for the Australians, but the kind of form in which Bollinger was in, nothing had to go wrong for them.

Bollinger bagged the wicket of the ever so dangerous Dilshan in the second ball of the innings itself. That was a huge blow for the Lankans as it was Dilshan on whom all the hopes lied for chasing such a huge target. The wicket of Dilshan fell and in came Kumar Sangakkara.

Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya during their partnership of 113 runs

No sooner did the wounds of Dilshan's wicket disappeared for the Lankans, Bollinger strikes yet again up rooting the off stump of Jayawardene. Two wickets in the first three overs with the scorecard not even reading a score in double figures did put the Lankan Lions on the back foot. Next to come in was Jayasuriya. This guy was dropped from the team for the past 4 to 5 months and he certainly wanted to make an impact in this match. Jayasuriya didn't let this chance go in vain as he scored a well made 60 of just 56 deliveries. On the other hand, Sangakkara too scored a superb 58 again of just 56 deliveries. The experience was clearly visible as they both started off pretty slow and eventually managed to squeeze out a much required partnership of 113 runs.

But once again, the Australians managed to pick two quick wickets. First it was Sangakkara who got bowled of a beauty from Harris and just the next over, it was Jayasuriya who was caught by Pain off none other than Bollinger.

The next two batsmen Samarweera and Kapugedara failed to have any impact on the scorecard getting dismissed on single digits. However, the all rounder Mathews proved his worth yet again scoring a matured 73. But, his efforts couldn't take the Lankan team to a victory due to lack of support from some middle order batsmen and the tailenders. Suraj Randiv was the only one who showed some resistance, but it just wasn't enough.

Angelo Mathews walks back to the pavilion after scoring a well paced innings of 70 odd runs

The Sri Lankan team managed to score just 250 in 50 overs for the loss of 9 wickets. Australia won the match by 80 runs, thanks to some amazing batting and bowling performances coming through from Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger respectively.

Stay tuned for the post match presentation ceremony.

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Post Match Presentation
First ODI: Australia vs Sri Lanka, Melbourne

Kumar Sangakkara:
"We were completely out played by the Australians today. They were amazing in all the three departments, batting, bowling and fielding. Our batting was fine but we lacked far behind in bowling. The absence of Murali is ofcourse felt, but we need to cope up with it. Hopefully, the new comers will do well with the help of the experienced and lot and we bounce back in the next game. Congratulations to the Australian team."

Ricky Ponting:
"Well it feels really good to get back on the winning track. After a dreadful tournament against England, this match has certainly boosted the team's confidence tremendously. Also, the break of about 10 - 15 days has come in handy providing sufficiently good amount of rest which I am sure is a reason for our victory, considering the non stop cricket we had been playing. Pretty happy with the team's performance, especially from Pup, Hussey and Bollinger."

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Mike Hussey was declared as the MOM for his aggressive innings of 85 odd runs

"It feels really good to be back in form. Also, the team had been suffering a lot from quite some time with poor form, but they boys look fresh again. I think the batting and bowling, both were pretty good from us. Bollinger was simply awesome and Pup along with me played good as well. Lets hope we continue to be at the winning track."

Australia leads the 3 match series 1 - 0.

[paki007]

no reply for a long time keep on posting

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Originally Posted by paki007

no reply for a long time keep on posting

I have decided to close down this story.