BRISBANE, Nov 12: World champions Australia extended their winning sequence in Test cricket by crushing Sri Lanka, wrapping up an innings and 40 run victory to take a one-nil lead in the two-match series soon after lunch on the final day at The Gabba here on Monday.
Stuart Clark bowled the hapless Muttiah Muralitharan 15 balls after the break for four, with a well-placed yorker sealing victory in the first Test for the home side in front of virtually empty stands.
Rickey Ponting’s men have won 13 Tests in succession, starting with the Melbourne Test against South Africa in December 2005.
The tourists were all out for 300, still 40 runs short of Australia’s total of 551, after being forced to follow on after making 211 in their first innings.
Chaminda Vaas was left stranded on 11 while Man-of-the-Match Brett Lee was the main destroyer, taking three wickets on Monday to finish with four for 86 in the second innings and match figures of eight for 112.
Stuart Clark (2-75) made the initial breakthrough of the day when he had wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene trapped in front for one and removed the wild-swinging Muralitharan to put a clinical end to a one-sided Test.
The win takes Australia’s unbeaten run at the Brisbane ground to 19 and overall winning streak to 13.
The tourists were 290 for nine at lunch, having lost four wickets in the morning session in the face of a pace onslaught from Lee.
He had the dangerous Chamara Silva caught by Mike Hussey at third man for 43, cleaned up Farveez Maharoof with a ripping leg-cutter for 18 and bowled Dilhara Fernando for four on the stroke of lunch.
It had been a frustrating morning for Australia, with persistent showers allowing just 18.5 overs of play before the break.
The fortunate Silva had a piece of good fortune earlier in the morning when Phil Jaques put him down cold at square leg off the bowling of Clark in the first over with the new ball.
Jaques had to lunge to his right but should have swallowed a fairly straight forward chance. Replays revealed it was a no-ball in any case but it escaped the attention of the umpires.
The lumbering quick didn’t have to wait very long to strike when he had Jayawardene misreading a full-pitched ball and being caught plum in front.
Maharoof was welcomed to the crease by wearing a Lee bouncer right in the head, with the ball bouncing off his helmet and pinging towards the sky.
He ducked under a barrage of bumpers before Lee had him playing all around a brilliant ball that rattled his off stump.
Meanwhile, Australia named an unchanged team for the second Test, starting on Friday at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval. Tasmanian paceman Ben Hilfenhaus will return to the squad after being spared from 12th man duties during the Brisbane Test to play in the Tigers’ Pura Cup clash against Victoria.
Squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Stuart MacGill, Ben Hilfenhaus (12th man).
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 218-5):
M.S. Atapattu c Gilchrist b Symonds 16
S.T. Jayasuriya c Ponting b Lee 39
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 c Hussey b Lee 43
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene lbw b Clark 1
M.F. Maharoof b Lee 18
W.P.U.J.C. Vaas not out 11
C.R.D. Fernando b Lee 4
M. Muralitharan b Clark 4
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, NB-6) 13
TOTAL (all out, 99.2 overs) 300
FALL OF WKTS: 1-53, 2-65, 3-167, 4-213, 5-215, 6-226, 7-259, 8-281, 9-290.
BOWLING: Lee 27-7-86-4; Johnson 19-5-47-2; Clark 22.2-3-75-2 (2nb); Symonds 6-1-21-1; MacGill 25-3-64-1.
RESULT: Australia won by an innings and 40 runs.
UMPIRES: A.L. Hill (New Zealand) and R.E. Koertzen (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: P.D. Parker (Australia).
MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Brett Lee.
SECOND TEST: Hobart, Nov 16-20.—Agencies