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Your support makes all the difference.Sri Lanka, in dire need of a captain's guidance, were given just that as Sanath Jayasuriya produced a masterful all-round performance to help a side written off as World Cup no-hopers to beat Australia with a record-breaking performance.
Thrashed twice in a day by Australia A on Tuesday, the Sri Lankans were expected to roll over and suffer a similar fate against the senior team in this VB Series meeting at the Sydney Cricket Ground. But Jayasuriya hit a rapid century before taking four wickets as Sri Lanka ran out winners by 79 runs, picking up a bonus point.
Jayasuriya and his opening partner, Marvan Atapattu, put on 237, a Sri Lankan one-day record, as the tourists hit 343 for 5 in their 50 overs, the highest score in a one-day international in Australia.
Australia's weakened bowling attack was put to the sword. Without the injured Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie, it was a second-string attack and Shane Watson, Brad Hogg and Andy Bichel were the main focus of the openers' savagery – each conceding at least seven runs per over.
Jayasuriya then turned his attention to skittling the Australian batsmen with his tidy left-arm orthodox spin, claiming figures of 4 for 39, the best by any bowler in the VB Series so far. Australia were never up with the run rate and Michael Bevan, with 41, was their highest scorer.
In the dying stages of their innings they had given up that chase and were instead pursuing a target of 275 to rescue a bonus point. But Watson and Bichel, unusually batting at No 11, fell short and Sri Lanka took the full six points.
Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, blamed his team's disappointing catching. "We didn't bowl well, we gave a couple of class players a couple of early chances and they made us pay," he said. "They dominated the game after about five or six overs. We knew what was ahead of us, but I don't think we were really switched on," he said.
VB SERIES (Sydney): Sri Lanka 343 for 5 (S T Jayasuriya 122, M S Atapattu 101); Australia 264 (S T Jayasuriya 4-39). Sri Lanka win by 79 runs.
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