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Lahiru Thirimanne guides Sri Lanka to reverberating win

  

Sri Lanka's coach Graham Ford predictable far improved from his men after an abject demonstrate in the 1^st ODI, and in Adelaide they duly delivered. A highly restricted bowling assembly laid bare Australian infirmity against the seaming ball before Lahiru Thirimanne anchored a contented chase on a low pitch in the 2^nd match of the series at Adelaide Oval.

Thirimanne Maiden ODI Hundred

The visitors gone Upul Tharanga in the 1^st over of their follow but were largely unruffled thereafter, as the surface eased after earlier contribution helpful seam movement for Sri Lanka's bowlers. Thirimanne reached a deserved century by wounding Xavier Doherty toward the back of point for the winning runs with 8th wickets in hand  and 59 balls to additional, having been accompanied for much of the quest by an atypically reserved Tillakaratne Dilshan.

scrupulous praise was also due to Nuwan Kulasekara & Angelo Mathews, who took the new balls and set Australia on the cynical by moving the ball just enough from side to side the air and off the seam, while keeping the runs down. Lasith Malinga &Thisara Perera then followed up with wickets of their own. Named in place of the hurt Dinesh Chandimal, the first appearance gloveman Kushal Perera reserved wicket tidily and held four catches.

Sri Lanka win 2nd ODI And level the series of 5 matches

Moreover their problems with seam gracious conditions suggestive of England, Australia were uncomfortable further by Brad Haddin's struggles with an evident hamstring strain, which began to affect him during the final stages of a rearguard innings of 50 and then forced a usual dialogue with the team physio Alex Kountouris in the early overs of the sundown session.

Finally Brad Haddin surrendered to the hurt, leaving Phillip Hughes to take up duties as Australia's rough and ready gloveman for the 2^nd time this summer. The hosts can be expecting their team to be appreciably reinforced when the national selector John Inverarity names the squad for the next two matches of the series, having ongoing well in Melbourne but fallen away deficiently in Adelaide.

After Tharanga's early leaving to a Clint McKay delivery on a slope across him, Dilshan and Thirimanne played with good quality sense and shot choice. Dilshan had one LBW appeal by Doherty referred to the 3^rd umpire, but the television confirmation proved too marginal for an wrong side up decision.

They were not to be alienated until only a further 34 runs were necessary. By that point Australia had lost Brad Haddin and also the bowling of the debutant Kane Richardson, who followed up a first ball duck with the bat by distress the ignominy of being drummed out of the bowling attack for frequently running on the pitch in his follow from side to side. It is a problem that will need some technological work to correct.

The first suggestion that Australia were not at their sharpest came in the opening over when Aaron Finch short the ball straight to square leg and set off for a single - Phillip Hughes would have been out by yards had the ball set up stumps or wicketkeeper. lucky there, Finch was to be out for his 2^nd  low score in as many matches and again fell to a unsure stroke, nearly Angelo’s Mathews to short cover after he had nudged Ajantha Mendis into the wicketkeeper's gloves at the MCG.

Phillip Hughes struggled to find the confidence he had managed while making a century on debut, and was pinned in front of the stumps by Kulasekara, wasting Australia's only review on a ball that pitched in line and would have taken middle and off. David Hussey and George Bailey briefly steadied the innings in a stand of 39, but the stand-in captain's providential stay, punctuated by numerous edges, and was ended when he pulled lasith Malinga to midwicket where lahiru Thirimanne held a straight catch.

Steve Smith, brought in for Usman Khawaja, oblique at fluency during his brief stay but troop loosely at a Perera delivery that seamed back into him and was taken in the rear. To this point Hussey had looked the most collected of the batsmen, but his run out in one more mix-up and a neat Angelo’s Mathews leg cutter to take away Glenn Maxwell, put Australia in profound trouble.

Cutting and Haddin resisted for 15 overs and 57 runs, the ex- showing glimpses of the batting skill he had confirmed for Queensland over the past two summers. Finally Malinga's pace and unique angle drew an edge from Cutting, and next ball his fellow debutant Richardson was bewildered by a dipping slower ball and pinned LBW.

Clint McKay averted the hat-trick but then fell casualty to a decision upturned for reasons known only to the 3^rd umpire Richard Kettleborough, for replays showed no concrete evidence of an edge behind from Perera's bowling, and HotSpot was no more informative.

The final man Doherty's arrival moved Brad Haddin to swing a potent six into the Members Stand. He picked out midwicket when frustrating to repeat the shot from Mendis, leaving the hosts with a sorry total that would speedily prove to be insufficient.

Innings

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4s

6s

PP1

PP2

41-50

NB/Wides

 

Australia	196	14	2	21-2	20-2/36-40	30-2/46.5	0/4
Sri lanka	143	17	1	32-1	26-0/36-40	4-0/40.1	0/2

Sri Lanka 2/172 (lahriuThirimanne 102*, Dilshan 51) thrash Australia 170 (Brad Haddin 50, lasith Malinga 3-32) by 8 wickets