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| Monday, 1 March 2004 |
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Lanky Zoysa shows 'em how by Sa'adi Thawfeeq Lanky fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa came to Sri Lanka's rescue after another woeful batting display by the top order to steer his team to a consolation win over Australia in the fifth and final one day international played at the SSC grounds yesterday. Zoysa hit a career best 47 not out off 42 balls inclusive of five fours and two sixes to earn his team a three-wicket win in the five-match series which Australia won by a margin of 3-2. Australia had made certain of the series by taking an unbeatable 3-1 lead after the fourth match at the R. Premadasa Stadium on Friday.
Zoysa's excellent batting where he did not put a foot wrong followed his magnificent bowling performance of three for 34 in the Australian innings which gave him the man-of-the-match award. Sri Lanka's batsmen made heavy weather of Australia's moderate total of 198-7 and slumped to 136-7 in the 35th over before Zoysa joined Russel Arnold to steer the side through murky waters and a win which would have to some extent boosted their morale ahead of the three Test series starting on March 8. Sri Lanka finished on 202-7 with Arnold contributing an undefeated 23 in an unfinished record eighth wicket partnership of 66 off 79 balls. The previous highest was 54 by Aravinda de Silva and Dilhara Fernando at the Centurion in 2002-03. It was once again a case of the top order batsmen failing to deliver. After a bad start when skipper Marvan Atapattu was dismissed without scoring in the second over and Sanath Jayasuriya departed for 13 in the seventh, Sri Lanka recovered to 85-2 only to lose the advantage once again when five wickets fell for 51 runs. Stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist rang in some effective bowling changes to cause panic in the Sri Lanka batting line up. Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Jayantha and Dilshan all made good starts but failed to carry it through. When another defeat was looming ahead of the team, a rejuvenated Zoysa who had bowled with his tail up brought about a confidence that was lacking in the batting. He improved on his previous best one-day international score of 32 with a series of drives and pulls that had the Australian attack non-plussed. The left-hander smote Brett Lee for 14 off an over, which included a pulled six over mid wicket to ease that eased the pressure. Then egged on by his home ground supporters he finished off the match in style by swinging Symonds to the mid wicket boundary in the 48th over. A win is a win, but it was by no means a convincing one for Sri Lanka considering the fact that Australia rested four of their key players for this game including skipper Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Jason Gillespie and Ian Harvey. Sri Lanka came up with another great performance on the field to restrict Australia to a total of 198 for seven wickets off 50 overs. Winning the toss for the third time in the series and playing an under-strength side. Australia struggled for runs after Zoysa spearheading the Sri Lanka bowling in the absence of Chaminda Vaas had fired out openers Adam Gilchrist and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin for 34 by the ninth over. Soysa bowled a splendid first spell of eight overs which comprised three maidens to put the Australians on the back foot with those early wickets. He came back later in the slog overs to remove the dangerous Symonds for 40 to finish with figures of three 34 off 10 overs. He was also involved in the run out of Simon Katich for 13 when he fired in a return from third man as the batsman attempted a risky second run. Following Zoysa's initial spell, the spinners took over to strangle the middle order batting. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan took a wicket off his third ball when he had Michael Clarke caught by Dilshan at mid on for 16 and followed it up with his 350th wicket in one-day international when he forced Michael Bevan to misread a well disguised leg break and edge a catch to slip. Muralitharan was playing in his 229th international and he stands third in the all-time list behind Pakistani fast bowlers Wasim Akram (502 wickets from 356 matches) and Waqar Younis (416 wickets from 262 matches). Muralitharan's figures were somewhat spoiled by Symonds when he hit him for 14 off the 47th over which included a six to long-off. Brad Hogg continued his vast improvement for Australia in the one-day game by remaining unbeaten on 35 scored off 48 balls. With Symonds, he added 76 off 94 balls for the seventh wicket which was a new Australian record against Sri Lanka. Tony Dodemaide and Michael Veletta held the previous record of 73 in 1987-88. By resting some of their key players the Australians gave players whose had limited opportunities in the series a chance ahead of the Test series starting on March 8. Sri Lanka made two changes leaving out Vaas and Kaushal Lokuarachchi and including Nuwan Kulasakera and Russel Arnold. AUSTRALIA A.C. Gilchrist lbw b Zoysa 18 B.J.Haddin c Jayasuriya b Zoysa 9 M.J. Clarkec Dilshan b Muralitharan 16 S.M. Katich run out 13 D.R. Martyn b Chandana 38 M.G. Bevan c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 13 A. Symonds c Arnold b Zoysa 40 G.B. Hogg not out 35 B. Lee not out 1 EXRTAS (lb-6, nb-1, w-7) 14 TOTAL (7 wkts inns closed, 50 overs, 205 mins) 198 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23 (Haddin), 2-34 (Gilchrist), 3-55 (Katich), 4-86 (Clarke), 5-117 (Bevan), 6-120 (Martyn), 7-196 (Symonds). Did not bat: B.A. Williams, M.S. Kasprowicz. BOWLING: Zoysa 10-3-34-3 (5w), Kulasekara 10-0-50-0 (1nb), Chandana 8-0-38-1, Dilshan 3-0-11-0, Jayasuriya 10-1-24-0 (2w), Muralitharan 9-0-35-2. SRI LANKA M.S. Atapattu b Kasprowicz 0 S.T. Jayasuriya c Williams b Lee 13 K.C. Sangakkara b Hogg 37 D.P.M. Jayawardene c Clarke b Williams 21 S. Jayantha b Kasprowicz 23 T.M. Dilshan b Symonds 15 R.P. Arnold not out 23 U.D.U. Chandana c Katich b Symonds 4 D.N.T. Zoysa not out 47 EXTRAS (lb-6, nb-2, w-11) 19 TOTAL (7 wkts, 47.5 overs, 209 mins) 202 FALL OF WICKETS: 1-2 (Atapattu), 2-25 (Jayasuriya), 3-85 (Jayawardene), 4-91 (Sangakkara), 5-117 (Jayantha), 6-126 (Dilshan), 7-136 (Chandana), Did not bat: K.M.D.N. Kulasekara, M. Muralitharan. BOWLING: Lee 9-1-52-1 (5w, 2nb), Kasprowicz 9-2-20-2, Williams 9-1-29-1, Hogg 7-0-34-1 (6w), Clarke 4-0-17-0, Symonds 9.5-2-34-2. Man of the Match: D.N.T. Zoysa Man of the Series: A. Symonds |
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