February 29, 2008	Friday	Safar 21, 1429

MELBOURNE, Feb 28: Australia’s Adam Gilchrist vowed his side will fight hard in Friday’s tri-series One-day International against Sri Lanka, despite already booking a place in the finals of the competition.

The big-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman smashed a blistering 149 in last year’s World Cup final between the same two sides but nothing hinges on the game at the MCG.

The Australians have already booked their place in the finals against India, starting on Sunday in Sydney, while Sri Lanka bowed out of contention with their disappointing loss to India on Tuesday in Hobart.

Though neither side has much to play for, the Australians will be aiming for an eighth successive one-day win over the Sri Lankans and Gilchrist said here on Thursday they were determined to build momentum for the upcoming best-of-three finals.

“We’ve certainly taken the approach that our finals campaign starts now,” Gilchrist said. “You could say it would be better not playing the game, to have a clear run into the finals but we’ve got this game.

“If we let that lethargy creep in, we lose momentum. We want to win it, we want to keep building this momentum we’ve got.”

With this year’s tri-series expected to be the last under the current format, the retiring Gilchrist said the Australians wanted to end it in style, having lost to England last year.

“It would be good to win it. We’ve got a couple of guys finishing our international careers, we don’t have that trophy in the cabinet and it’s the last tri-series there will probably ever be,” he stated.“It’s been an integral part in the success of Australian cricket... and indeed the world cricket calendar.”

Gilchrist said he would miss playing at the MCG, especially the time-honoured Boxing Day Test.

“It’s everything you’d expect it to be. It’s everything you’ve heard others say. It’s just one of the greatest days in Australian sport,” he expressed.

“No matter how many times you do it, it’s still as big a buzz as the first time you experience it.”—AFP