January 14, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 13, 1426

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

MELBOURNE, Jan 13: Australia produced a clinical, all-round team effort to outplay a poor Sri Lanka side and record a 116-run victory in the opening match of their triangular one-day series on Friday.

The world champions’ batsmen, sparked by a brutal 106-run partnership between Damien Martyn (70) and Andrew Symonds (66), smashed Sri Lanka all around Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium to post an imposing 318 for five of their 50 overs.

Fast bowler Brett Lee knocked the top off Sri Lanka’s innings with two wickets in his first two overs, while left-arm swing bowler Nathan Bracken grabbed two wickets for 11 runs off eight overs to restrict Sri Lanka to 202 for seven in their 50 overs.

Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for the visitors with 50 while debutant Michael Vandort, whose only other international appearance was two test matches against Bangladesh in 2001 and 2002, scored 48 from 117 balls.

Australian opening batsman Simon Katich scored 60 while Michael Clarke (45 not out) and Mike Hussey (34 not out) added 80 runs in the final 10.4 overs.

Ruchira Perera was the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers with two for 45 off 10 overs.

Test discard Martyn, who scored 96 off 56 balls in a Twenty20 match against South Africa on Monday, had a bizarre innings.

He survived a potential run out, a dropped catch and was caught off a no ball before he had reached double figures.

Martyn, at the non-striker’s end, was well short of his crease when Katich’s drive hit the stumps but the ball had missed Dilhara Fernando’s outstretched hand by millimetres.

Martyn then smashed a shot to cover point off Chaminda Vaas while on three, only to be saved by the bowler over-stepping.

He was dropped on the first ball of the next over by Marvan Atapattu before combining with Katich for 76 runs and then Symonds.

Fernando ended the blazing partnership when he yorked Martyn with the score on 238 for four in the 39th over.

Symonds was then dismissed in a bizarre fashion six balls later when he smashed a delivery from Jehan Mubarak straight down the pitch only for it to strike Clarke’s leg and ricochet to Tillekeratne Dilshan standing at mid-on.

Clarke and Hussey pushed their side past 300 with intelligent running and picking the right balls to hit to the boundary.

South Africa play Australia in their first match of the series on Sunday in Brisbane.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA:

A.C. Gilchrist lbw b Perera 13

S.M. Katich run out 60

R.T. Ponting b Perera 13

D.R. Martyn b Fernando 70

A. Symonds c Dilshan b Mubarak 66

M.J. Clarke not out 45

M.E.K. Hussey not out 34

EXTRAS (LB-8, W-6, NB-3) 17

TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 318

FALL OF WKTS: 1-25, 2-58, 3-132, 4-238, 5-238.

DID NOT BAT: J.R. Hopes, B. Lee, N.W. Bracken, G.D. McGrath.

BOWLING: Vaas 10-0-73-0 (1nb); Perera 10-0-45-2 (2nb); Fernando 10-0-60-1 (2w); Muralitharan 10-0-67-0 (2w); Dilshan 8-0-55-0 (1w); Mubarak 2-0-10-1.

SRI LANKA:

W.U. Tharanga b Lee 2

J. Mubarak c Ponting b Lee 1

M.G. Vandort run out 48

K.C. Sangakkara c Martyn b Bracken 16

T.M. Dilshan b Bracken 29

D.P.M.D. Jayawardene c and b Hopes 50

M.S. Atapattu c Katich b Hogg 9

R.P. Arnold not out 28

W.P.U.J.C. Vaas not out 7

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, W-8) 12

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 202

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-11, 3-32, 4-93, 5-118, 6-137, 7-176.

DID NOT BAT: P.D.R.L. Perera, C.R.D. Fernando.

BOWLING: Lee 7-0-29-2 (4w); McGrath 9-1-30-0 (1w); Bracken 8-2-11–2; Hopes 9-1-35-1 (1w); Hogg 10-0-57-1 (2w); Symonds 4-0-20-0; Clarke 3-0-16–0.

RESULT: Australia won by 116 runs.

UMPIRES: S.J.A. Taufel (Australia) and M.R. Benson (England).

TV UMPIRE: R.L. Parry (Australia).

MATCH REFEREE: J.J. Crowe (New Zealand).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Andrew Symonds.

NEXT MATCH: Australia v South Africa at Brisbane on Sunday.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Australia — G.B. Hogg for Martyn; Sri Lanka — Vandort for Muralitharan.—Reuters