SL vs. Oz - 3rd ODI.

[Dale61]

2-39 after 10 overs
Ponting 19, Martyn 13

[Donny]

Martyn (36) and Ponting (39) have added 78 at better than the required run rate.

[Collies4Eva]

well ponting and marto are gone, marto stupidly run out at the non strikers end off what wouldve been a dot ball, what a goose. symmo and bevo on now, 89 runs of 107 balls reqd, if this runrate starts reading the otherway bcoz they start fringging around with singles and blocks and that kind of crap like they did last game and wait till the last minute to win and end up losing by 1 run or something with 6 wickets in hand i'll break my tv!!!!!!

[Collies4Eva]

Bevo gone thank god after making the runrate slow to a crawl, 70 off 77. theyve gone into their shell!!!!! even symmo!!!!!!

[Collies4Eva]

Symmo's turned into Bevo, i reckon...

[Collies4Eva]

now that's the symmo we know!!! don't wait till the last over son!!!!!!

[Collies4Eva]

hmmm loooks like im the only one still awake to celebrate the oz win

[commonwombat]

A very rare event happened; M Bevan on the receiving end of a run-out mix-up.

Wouldn't have wanted to be in/near the dressing room when he stormed in. Watch ya back, Symmo !!!!

[Donny]

Well, Collies, perhaps you made an observation or two.

Fair weather supporters (some who only started following Australia in the last few years) love it when Gilly, Hades and Punter succeed at the top of the order and we smash oppositions or chase down totals by the 40th. over but, as we saw last night, sometimes we lose the openers early and a different approach is needed.

That's where the Martyns and Bevans come into play. And Bevo has done it so often. His time is nearly up but he's been a wonderful contributer to the Aussies many wins over the last decade.

You said, "Symmo's turned into Bevo, i reckon... " The fact is, Symmo's turned into a batsman, not just a basher.

And one other point, Collies. If batsmen could take runs whenever and however they wanted, we'd never have to "wait till the last minute to win" as you put it.

[Donny]

Symonds seals Australian win

The Wisden Bulletin by Charlie Austin

Australia bounced back from their one-run defeat at Dambulla, and the distraction of Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds' disciplinary inquiries, to reclaim the advantage in this five-match series with a comfortable five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka under the lights at the Premadasa stadium.

Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke all made important contributions with the bat, but Jason Gillespie was the star of the show, whipping out the cream of Sri Lanka's top order with the new ball early in the day. Gillespie's rampage left Sri Lanka tottering on 36 for 3, a position from which they never recovered as he finished with 3 for 36 from 10 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene led a partial recovery with a 109-ball 80, his highest score in ODIs for over two years, compiling useful partnerships with Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Chandana to set a modest 227-run target.

Vaas then prompted some early jitters in the Australia dressing-room as Matthew Hayden (3) mistimed a cover drive off Muttiah Muralitharan. Five balls later, Vaas found the outside edge of Adam Gilchrist's bat with a curling outswinger and Jayawardene clung onto a regulation chance at second slip (4 for 2).

Ponting, in prime form after scores of 58 and 69 in the first two matches, rolled up his sleeves and reacted positively to his team's precarious position. Martyn was less assured at the start - especially against Nuwan Zoysa, who probed away around his off-stump during an impressive return to international cricket after an 18-month absence – but gradually settled.

The pair quickly wrestled back the initiative, whizzing past 50 in the 13th over of the innings. Both players passed fifty and the century partnership came from just 117 balls. Sangakkara missed a run-out opportunity with a wild throw but other than that Sri Lanka's bowlers rarely looked likely to break through. Until, that is, the arrival of Vaas for a second spell.

It seemed like Atapattu's last throw of the dice and it worked as, in his second over back, Ponting chopped onto his stumps as he tried to steer a single down to third man. Ponting had scored 63 from 75 balls and hit four fours (133 for 3).

That was followed in the next over by a reflex piece of fielding from Sanath Jayasuriya to run out Martyn. Symonds clipped the ball straight back to Jayasuriya, the bowler, who then shovelled the ball onto the stumps with Martyn inches short as he tried to back up (136 for 4).

Suddenly a 15,000-capacity crowd erupted, sensing a home victory. When Michael Bevan was run out for 10, to leave Australia on 159 for 5 needing a run a ball for victory, another thriller was on the cards. But Symonds (45 not out) and Clarke (31 not out) held their nerve and timed the final leg of the run chase perfectly, adding 68 in 66 balls to ease Australia home with nine balls to spare.

Earlier, Gillespie's new-ball blitz had started in the very first over as Jayasuriya fended tentatively at a short-of-a-length delivery and edged straight to Michael Clarke in the gully. Marvan Atapattu, caught in two minds as to whether to play or not, chopped a short ball back onto the off bail. When Gillespie also located the edge of Sangakkara's bat, Sri Lanka were tottering on 36 for 3.

Jayawardene – who scored 61 and 38 in the opening two games – started his repair work with Russel Arnold, adding 20 in 48 balls. And the salvage operation gathered momentum after the arrival of Tillakaratne Dilshan, who scored a breezy run-a-ball 30, as 58 were added in 70 balls.

Upul Chandana also provided good support with an energetic 34, adding 58 in 63 deliveries with Jayawardene as Sri Lanka reached 146 for 5 with ten overs remaining. But a brace of run-outs then stemmed the flow of runs, with Brad Hogg's throws dismissing both Jayawardene and Chandana.

Vaas (24) and Kumar Dharmasena (24 not out) provided some late fireworks to leave Sri Lanka with an outside chance of victory, but it was not to be.

[Donny]

Atapattu: 'our batsmen lost it'

Wisden Cricinfo staff

Marvan Atapattu blamed his batsmen after Sri Lanka had slumped to a five-wicket defeat against Australia in the third ODI in Colombo. "It all went wrong at the start," he admitted. "We should have ended up with 30 or 40 more runs on a good batting track.

"It was a great innings by Mahela [Jayawardene] and the lower order batsmen to get us to 226 at the end, and then [Chaminda] Vaas gave us a great start with those early wickets. At that moment we had a sniff but Martyn and Ponting then batted superbly. When the ball got soft and started turning at the end we also had another chance as the run-rate crept up to 6.5 per over. If only we had grabbed a couple more wickets."

Atapattu also noted that the Australians had played Muttiah Muralitharan with a lot of confidence, but argued that the wicket had not turned like a normal Premadasa pitch. "The next match is obviously crucial if we are going to stay in the series," he said, "and we will try to win that."

Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, was extremely pleased with his side's victory. "We bowled the right lengths and had them under pressure," he said. "When you dare bowling like that it can look like there is more happening in the wicket than there actually is. I think it was a pretty good wicket and I think we would have got a few more than 227 if we had batted on it first.

"I don't think Murali is bowling that badly," he added. "I just think we are playing him pretty well. Our approach to him has been spot-on so far. No wickets for 90-odd runs in the last couple of games has been a great result for us. Most of our batsmen are picking him and playing him pretty well and hopefully we can do that again on Friday."

Ponting was full of praise for Andrew Symonds after he had steered Australia to the win. "He is playing beautifully and it is exciting to think that he could be in the Test line-up. He plays the spinners well and if they bowl a bad ball he is going to hit it. To have someone like him around is good for the team."

[JLC]

Great effort by the Aussies to win as batting second is never easy. Thats the first innings for a while where Martyn has done something while the Aussies were in trouble......they were 2 for not much. I will have to try and watch some highlights tonight hopefully.

I wouldnt get too complacent though re Murali if i was the Aussie batsman as i doubt he would reveal all his tricks in one day matches.

jlc