Sri Lankans overpower Australia for famous win

Sanath Jayasuriya turned back the clock as Sri Lanka recorded another victory against Australia, by 51-runs, at the Sydney Cricket Ground this evening.

Jayasuriya made a triumphant return from a shoulder injury with an inspirational 85-ball century. He shared a 163-run partnership for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara that defied the Australian pace attack missing Glenn McGrath.

Last time the Sri Lankans played Australia in Sydney (January 2003) they left with a 79-run bonus point victory after scoring 5-343, the highest non-Australian score at the ground. On that day, Jayasuriya was the captain and posted 122, current skipper Marvan Atapattu finished with 101.

The visitors took full advantage of the super substitute rule by selecting Malinga Bandara, a spin bowler who troubled the Australian batsmen in the night session, while the Aussies selected a team based around batting first with Brad Hogg named as their replacement player.

Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken opened the bowling after Sri Lanka elected to bat first. Lee had Jehan Mubarak caught behind in his fourth over. The momentum however swung dramatically as Jayasuriya punished the new pair of Brett Dorey and James Hopes. Jayasuriya smashed five fours' and two sixes as he raced to a half century off only 39 balls, which ultimately saw Australia use their super substitute earlier than anticipated.

Dorey conceded an unwanted 35 runs off four overs and Australian captain Ricky Ponting made the tough decision to swap him with Brad Hogg after 19 overs. The move seemed to backfire as Sangakkara found himself amongst the action and complied a fifty. Andrew Symonds was the recipient of a return catch after he delivered a slower ball to Sangakkara (78).

Brad Haddin stumped Jayasuriya in the 32nd over for 114, off 96 balls. Mahela Jayawardene was another to reach 50, off 44 balls, and Sri Lanka moved closer to the 300-run total before Bracken bowled Jayawardene (56).

A further three wickets followed, including a brilliant mid-wicket run out of Russel Arnold (6) by Ricky Ponting in the 49th over. Sri Lanka passed 300 on the next ball through Atapattu then finished their 50 overs with 7-309.

The Australians faced a huge challenge to make the 310-run target, given no team has ever achieved more than 275 batting second in Sydney.

It was evident early in reply that Australia would struggle. The decision to bring back injury-prone Simon Katich for an inform Phil Jaques proved costly with Katich falling for 19. However he was not alone with the tardy start as Damien Martyn (8) fell first to Chaminda Vaas when Nuwan Kulasekara took the catch at fine leg, then Ponting (13) followed when Muttiah Muralitharan leapt to take a juggled catch at mid-on in the 11th over.

Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin revived the innings slightly with a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket. Muralitharan bowled Haddin for 41 and Hussey fell three balls later, run out for a golden duck.

A 73-run stand between Clarke and Andrew Symonds provided a lifeline, though marginal hope was there while this partnership powered Australia past 150 and towards 200. Clarke notched his fifty in the 34th over before Symonds lusty swing found the grandstand. A terrible mix-up saw Symonds run out by Dilshan at the keepers' end after Clarke insisted on the quick single.

Bandara collected the final four wickets, Clarke (67) and Lee (3) fell in consecutive overs before a brave 60-run partnership for the ninth wicket between Hopes and Hogg ensured Australia made more than 250.

Bandara though had the last laugh with the two wickets in the final over when Hopes (43) slogged for six only to find Vaas on the rope at deep mid-wicket and Bracken's last ball slog sailed straight to Atapattu at mid-wicket.

Australia was all out for 258, Ruchira Perera earlier claimed the top order duo, Ponting and Katich, and finished with 2/37 off nine overs.

The VB Series reaches its halfway point on Tuesday when South Africa and Sri Lanka clash at the Adelaide Oval. It promises to be a fascinating contest with the Proteas eager to end the seven-match sequence, which dates back to December 2002, without a victory against Sri Lanka.

Australia's next match in the tournament is on Thursday, also in Adelaide where they play Sri Lanka again.

Full scorecard available here.

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