Sri Lanka 2 for 274 (Dilshan 106, Jayawardene 80) beat Australia 6 for 271 (Clarke 117, Warner 100) by eight wickets
Dilshan alternated between the brazen & the cheeky, crashing ten fours & also being struck on the helmet when he tried his patented Dil-scoop. The captain Jayawardene was more cultured, but outpaced his partner in a princely innings that would have ended in the second over if not for a Clint McKay no-ball.
Mahela Jayawardene & Tillakaratne Dilshan took full toll of a wayward Australia as Sri Lanka forced a third triangular series final in Adelaide. Chasing 272, the visitors galloped to the target with five.4 overs to spare, benefiting greatly from a rollicking start when the first overs reaped 30 runs.
Clarke had done his best to give his side a respectable total. His 117 in Australia's 6 for 271 was the quickest of his limited-overs career & the second of his ODI captaincy. David Warner was more circumspect, but his chanceless 100 demonstrated a range of concentration & focus reserved for the best of batsmen. Famed as a boundary hitter, Warner reached the rope only times in his innings & cleared it only one time, but the worth of his work was reflected in a final total far greater than appeared feasible at the innings' midpoint.
Such indiscipline summed up Australia's predicament, having struck a sinful patch of form in the field halfway through the first final in Brisbane & then being unable to rise above it in Adelaide. The captain Michael Clarke is also in the unenviable position of carrying a left hamstring issue riskily close to the beginning of the West Indies tour, due to start immediately after the third final.
Matthew Wade departed early to the spin of Dilshan, who opened the bowling & done a tidy ten overs, before Shane Watson played a chancy innings in which he was grassed two times. Each dropped catch fell off the bowling of Farveez Maharoof, who ultimately ran out Australia's vice-captain with a direct hit in his follow through. Lasith Malinga was the tightest of Sri Lanka's bowlers & deserved his wickets.
A second-over edge behind by Jayawardene was cancelled out by McKay's overstep, typical of the abject way in which Australia's bowlers began their defence of a less than watertight total. Brett Lee gave up wides on the way to conceding 12 from the opening over, and James Pattinson's first overs were taken for 22 despite an abundance of away swing.
Two more catches would go down off Clarke's bat later in the innings, while Jayawardene raged against a delayed no-ball call at the height of his opposite number's innings. Debating the point angrily with both umpires after Maharoof had strayed above waist height with a full toss, Jayawardene lost his cold. His fury would be far more controlled when the reply began.
No fewer than 11 of the first 30 runs were handed to Sri Lanka by the extras column, as Australia's bowlers maintained the poorly form they had demonstrated in the latter overs in Brisbane. Clarke had taken the field despite his injury, but his presence did not make much of a difference.
Jayawardene and Dilshan did not get frantic after the beginning they got, and slipped in to comfortable gears that involved regular singles and the odd boundary whenever the bowlers strayed in search of a first wicket. Australia's mid-innings options were milked for regular runs, Xavier Doherty's first costing 37.
Dilshan was first to pass 50, and Jayawardene soon followed. Australia's frustration grew when Asad Rauf refused a concerted appeal for caught behind from Dilshan on 77, as replays revealed a substantial edge that Wade gathered while maintaining to Watson.
Jayawardene's sparkling stay was ended by a hint of Pattinson reverse swing as well as a clear lbw, but Dilshan went on to his second century of the match before Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara guided the visitors home.
Clarke had little hesitation batting on winning the toss, but the early overs were slow going. Jayawardene's imaginative use of Dilshan added to the openers' uncertainty, and Wade's impatience proved terminal when he swung at a ball not short for the stroke and was bowled.
Watson's innings was halting, and he was dropped by Dilshan in the fielding circle then by Rangana Herath on the long-off boundary - the latter unable to complete an equivalent of his spectacular outfield take in the first final. However Maharoof was not discouraged by the missed chances, and when Watson was 15 he gathered and swivelled from Warner's offside bunt to throw down the stumps and discover a diving Watson comfortably short. Clarke helped to build some greater momentum in the company of Warner, who was less conspicuous than he had been at the Gabba.
Dilshan alternated between the brazen & the cheeky, crashing ten fours & also being struck on the helmet when he tried his patented Dil-scoop. The captain Jayawardene was more cultured, but outpaced his partner in a princely innings that would have ended in the second over if not for a Clint McKay no-ball.
Mahela Jayawardene & Tillakaratne Dilshan took full toll of a wayward Australia as Sri Lanka forced a third triangular series final in Adelaide. Chasing 272, the visitors galloped to the target with five.4 overs to spare, benefiting greatly from a rollicking start when the first overs reaped 30 runs.
Clarke had done his best to give his side a respectable total. His 117 in Australia's 6 for 271 was the quickest of his limited-overs career & the second of his ODI captaincy. David Warner was more circumspect, but his chanceless 100 demonstrated a range of concentration & focus reserved for the best of batsmen. Famed as a boundary hitter, Warner reached the rope only times in his innings & cleared it only one time, but the worth of his work was reflected in a final total far greater than appeared feasible at the innings' midpoint.
Such indiscipline summed up Australia's predicament, having struck a sinful patch of form in the field halfway through the first final in Brisbane & then being unable to rise above it in Adelaide. The captain Michael Clarke is also in the unenviable position of carrying a left hamstring issue riskily close to the beginning of the West Indies tour, due to start immediately after the third final.
Matthew Wade departed early to the spin of Dilshan, who opened the bowling & done a tidy ten overs, before Shane Watson played a chancy innings in which he was grassed two times. Each dropped catch fell off the bowling of Farveez Maharoof, who ultimately ran out Australia's vice-captain with a direct hit in his follow through. Lasith Malinga was the tightest of Sri Lanka's bowlers & deserved his wickets.
A second-over edge behind by Jayawardene was cancelled out by McKay's overstep, typical of the abject way in which Australia's bowlers began their defence of a less than watertight total. Brett Lee gave up wides on the way to conceding 12 from the opening over, and James Pattinson's first overs were taken for 22 despite an abundance of away swing.
Two more catches would go down off Clarke's bat later in the innings, while Jayawardene raged against a delayed no-ball call at the height of his opposite number's innings. Debating the point angrily with both umpires after Maharoof had strayed above waist height with a full toss, Jayawardene lost his cold. His fury would be far more controlled when the reply began.
No fewer than 11 of the first 30 runs were handed to Sri Lanka by the extras column, as Australia's bowlers maintained the poorly form they had demonstrated in the latter overs in Brisbane. Clarke had taken the field despite his injury, but his presence did not make much of a difference.
Jayawardene and Dilshan did not get frantic after the beginning they got, and slipped in to comfortable gears that involved regular singles and the odd boundary whenever the bowlers strayed in search of a first wicket. Australia's mid-innings options were milked for regular runs, Xavier Doherty's first costing 37.
Dilshan was first to pass 50, and Jayawardene soon followed. Australia's frustration grew when Asad Rauf refused a concerted appeal for caught behind from Dilshan on 77, as replays revealed a substantial edge that Wade gathered while maintaining to Watson.
Jayawardene's sparkling stay was ended by a hint of Pattinson reverse swing as well as a clear lbw, but Dilshan went on to his second century of the match before Dinesh Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara guided the visitors home.
Clarke had little hesitation batting on winning the toss, but the early overs were slow going. Jayawardene's imaginative use of Dilshan added to the openers' uncertainty, and Wade's impatience proved terminal when he swung at a ball not short for the stroke and was bowled.
Watson's innings was halting, and he was dropped by Dilshan in the fielding circle then by Rangana Herath on the long-off boundary - the latter unable to complete an equivalent of his spectacular outfield take in the first final. However Maharoof was not discouraged by the missed chances, and when Watson was 15 he gathered and swivelled from Warner's offside bunt to throw down the stumps and discover a diving Watson comfortably short. Clarke helped to build some greater momentum in the company of Warner, who was less conspicuous than he had been at the Gabba.