November 12, 2007	Monday	Ziqa’ad 01, 1428

BRISBANE, Nov 11: Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill’s 200th Test wicket was one of few highlights for Australia on the fourth day of the first Test as Sri Lanka refused to yield, reaching five for 218 at stumps when bad light stopped play on Sunday.

Forced to follow on after being 340 runs behind on the first innings, Sri Lanka resumed on Sunday at the Gabba on 80 for two, going to lunch at 147-2 and reaching 188-3 at tea.

The tourists need another 122 runs on Monday’s final day’s play to make the home side bat again, while the home side need five wickets.

Chamara Silva is five not out with wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene yet to score.

With only one wicket to show for his first 47 overs in the match, MacGill suddenly went from bowling full tosses to landing the perfect leg-spinner, fizzing between the bat and pad of left-hander Michael Vandort (82) to leaving the visitors at 213 for four after tea.

After taking 1-79 from 25 overs in the first innings, MacGill has 1-64 from another 25 overs in the second dig, with a fifth-day wicket to give him more chance of success on Monday.

Wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist was the first player to place the fiery MacGill in a tight embrace as the 36-year-old slow bowler allowed himself a moment of emotion, pumping his fist in celebration at his 200th wicket.

MacGill became the 13th Australian to take 200 Test wickets, reaching the milestone in 41 matches, the fourth-fastest in Test history behind Australian pair Clarrie Grimmett (36) and Dennis Lillee (38) and Pakistan’s Waqar Younis (38).

Vandort had given Sri Lanka hope of saving the match with his four hours of defiance. But Sri Lanka lost their fifth wicket in the following over as debutant paceman Mitchell Johnson had Thilan Samaraweera (20) caught in the gully by a juggling Mike Hussey.

On a good batting wicket, Johnson finally broke the 102-run partnership between Vandort and captain Mahela Jayawardene after lunch when the Sri Lankan skipper was caught behind for 49.

Following four rain interruptions, bad light intervened at 4.22pm local time and no further play was possible, despite some spirited discussions between the umpires and Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Stumps were finally called at 5.05pm.

The two-Test series concludes with the second match in Hobart starting on Friday.

Scoreboard

AUSTRALIA (1st Innings) 551-4 declared (M.J. Clarke 145 not out, M.E.K. Hussey 133, P.A. Jaques 100, R.T. Ponting 56, A. Symonds 53 not out).

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 211 (M.S. Atapattu 51; B. Lee 4-26).

SRI LANKA (2nd Innings, overnight 80-2):

S.T. Jayasuriya c Ponting b Lee 39

M.S. Atapattu c Gilchrist b Symonds 16

M.G. Vandort b MacGill 82

M. Jayawardene c Gilchrist b Johnson 49

T.T. Samaraweera c Hussey b Johnson 20

L.P.C. Silva not out 5

H.A.P.W. Jayawardene not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3) 7

TOTAL (for five wkts, 78 overs) 218

FALL OF WKTS: 1-53, 2-65, 3-167, 4-213, 5-215.

BOWLING (to-date): Lee 16-4-52-1; Johnson 19-5-47-2; Clark 12-3-27-0; Symonds 6-1-21-1; MacGill 25-3-64-1.—Agencies