November 05, 2007	Monday	Shawwal 23, 1428

BRISBANE, Nov 4: Queensland staved off a Sri Lankan pace onslaught to hold on for a four-wicket victory on the final day of their three-day tour match at Allan Border Field here on Sunday.

The Australian state side, chasing a target of 142 runs from 43 overs, slumped to 78 for six before Clinton Perren (62 not out) and Ashley Noffke (21 not out) shared in a seventh-wicket stand of 64 to steer the home team to victory.

But for a time it looked as though Sri Lanka were on the road to a morale-boosting win ahead of Thursday’s opening Test here against Australia with pace duo Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof in full cry.

“We spoke amongst ourselves and are very happy with the bowlers. Ready for the Test match,” skipper Mahela Jayawardene said.

“I’m disappointed with the batting, a few shot selections. A lot of people weren’t 100 percent about the shots.

“There are no excuses, we probably could have been much more positive with our shot selection.

“It will be a different kettle of fish come Thursday. What happened here, forget about it. We must take good things out of the game.”

In a worrying sign for the tourists ahead of the series opener, 14 of their dismissals came from catches by wicket-keeper Chris Hartley or the slips cordon.

But Sri Lanka fought back well on the final day. Maharoof (3-33) dismissed openers Jimmy Maher (12) and Ryan Broad (26) and claimed the wicket of Test batsman Andrew Symonds, caught at second slip for three, to have the Queenslanders in strife at 48 for three.

Malinga’s low, slinging action gave him the wickets of Chris Simpson (1) and first-innings century-maker Andy Bichel (0), both leg before wicket in consecutive balls.

Hartley denied Malinga a hat-trick before he was stumped for eight off leg-spinner Malinga Bandara to leave the Queenslanders at 78 for six.

Perren’s steadying innings off 74 balls, including nine boundaries, restored the innings and set the home team on the road to victory.

Queensland captain Maher said Sri Lanka were well stocked with pace bowlers heading into the two-Test series.

“They’ve probably got a decision to make to pick three out of the four (Dilhara Fernando, Malinga, Chaminda Vaas and Maharoof) who are available,” Maher said.

“He (Maharoof) asked a lot of questions of all our batsmen. They all said they found him quite difficult.”

Earlier, Michael Kasprowicz (3-29) and Noffke (3-21) set up the exciting finish, Queensland bowling the tourists out for 226 in their second innings, despite a feisty 84 from tailender Vaas.

Vaas hit 14 fours and two sixes in his 76-ball innings. The left-hander dominated a ninth-wicket partnership of 75 in 55 minutes with Bandara (15).

In-form Noffke had match figures of 8-57 while Test squad member Mitchell Johnson had a quiet game ahead of Thursday’s Gabba Test, taking 1-39 and 1-47.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 210-9 declared (H.A.P.W. Jayawardene 58 not out; A.A. Noffke 5-36).

QUEENSLAND (1st Innings) 295 (A.J. Bichel 125, M.G. Johnson 50).

SRI LANKA (2nd Innings overnight 62-4):

M.S. Atapattu lbw b Noffke 7

S.T. Jayasuriya c Perren b Noffke 2

M.G. Vandort c Hartley b K’wicz 26

M. Jayawardene c Hartley b Johnson 35

T.T. Samaraweera c Maher b Bichel 3

L.P.C. Silva c Maher b Noffke 4

H.A.P.W. Jayawardene c Maher b K’wicz 22

M.F. Maharoof c Perren b K’wicz 8

W.P.U.J.C. Vaas c Simpson b Doran 84

C.M. Bandara c and b Bichel 15

S.L. Malinga not out 15

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-2, NB-1) 5

TOTAL (all out, 73.5 overs) 226

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-11, 3-52, 4-55, 5-64, 6-82, 7-104, 8-133, 9-208.

BOWLING: Johnson 18-3-47-1; Noffke 13-4-21-3; Kasprowicz 14-4-29-3 (1nb); Bichel 11-3-34-2; Symonds 7-1-38-0; Doran 10.5-0-53-1.

QUEENSLAND (2nd Innings):

R.A. Broad c P. J’wardene b Maharoof 26

J.P. Maher c M. J’wardene b Maharoof 12

C.T. Perren not out 62

A. Symonds c M. J’wardene b Maharoof 3

C.P. Simpson lbw b Malinga 1

A.J. Bichel lbw b Malinga 0

C.D. Hartley st P. J’wardene b Bandara 8

A.A. Noffke not out 21

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-8) 9

TOTAL (for six wkts, 37.1 overs) 142

FALL OF WKTS: 1-35, 2-41, 3-48, 4-51, 5-5l, 6-78.

BOWLING: Vaas 9-4-22-0; Malinga 11-1-49-2 (2nb); Maharoof 9-0-33-3 (6nb); Bandara 7-0-34-1; Samaraweera 1.1-0-3-0.

RESULT: Queensland won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: A.R. Curran and N.S. McNamara.—AFP