Tuesday 9th June 2009
Sri Lanka knock Australia out
A captain's innings by Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan's quickfire knock dump Australia out of the ICC World T20.
Sri Lanka beat Australia by six wickets at Trent Bridge to enter the Super Eights.
Dilshan (53) and Sangakkara (55 n.o.) added 62 off 42 balls to set the tone for Sri Lanka's win after Ajantha Mendis (3/20) and Lasith Malinga (3/36) restricted Australia to 159 for nine after they were invited to bat.
Click here for all the action as it unfolded
Australia, needing victory to keep their Super Eights hopes alive, were done in by Dilshan, who carried on from where he left off in the Indian Premier League, finding boundaries at will to reach his half-century in just 26 balls.
Sanath Jayasuriya's (2) dismissal to a brilliant catch by David Warner off Brett Lee had little impact on the chase as Dilshan and Sangakkara brought up the 50 inside five overs.
Dilshan pulled, cut, drove and once audaciously lifted Shane Watson over wicketkeeper Brad Haddin for a four. He sprayed the ball all around the park, hitting 10 boundaries before his 32-ball innings was cut short by Michael Clarke.
His first delivery clipped the bails and Dilshan returned to the pavilion for a well made 53.
SX4 Super Selector
Mahela Jayawardene (9) was next to follow and Sri Lanka hit a slump before Sangakkara kept his nerve and along with Jehan Mubarak's 13-ball unbeaten 21, saw the team through with an over to spare.
Sangakkara hit a couple of sixes and four boundaries in his 42-ball unbeaten knock while Mubarak also contributed with two huge sixes. Earlier, Mendis and Malinga did all the damage as they shared six wickets between them to stifle Australia.
Mendis removed skipper Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Mike Hussey while Malinga dismissed Lee (15) and Nathan Hauritz (4) in the final over to restrict the Australian innings which needed some power hitting from Mitchell Johnson (28 n.O.) and David Hussey (28) to prop up the team.
Australia lost David Warner (0) in the very first over before captain Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson consolidated the innings with a 57-run partnership.
Watson took 14 runs off debutant left-arm pacer Isuru Udana's first over and Ponting followed up by hitting Malinga for three successive fours.
Click here for the ICC World T20 match videos
However, the duo looked all at sea once Mendis came into the picture. Ponting tried to hit Mendis against the spin and lost his leg-stump for 25. The skipper's 15-ball innings included five hits to the fence.
Watson (22) followed soon after, this time Mendis trapped him in front of stumps to end his 21-ball knock that included two fours and a six.
Join in ICC World T20 action at Facebook
Brad Haddin (16) saw his stumps shattered by a Malinga slower and Udana then removed Michael Clarke (11) to leave Australia reeling at 79 for five.
With Michael Hussey (1) returning to the pavilion soon after, it was left to David and Johnson to prop up the innings with a 41-run stand that came off 21 deliveries. David's 22-ball innings included three sixes and a couple of fours while Johnson's unbeaten 13-ball knock had one six and a boundary.
Click here to relive the match in pics
Lee also chipped in with two boundaries and a six to help push Australia's total to 159.
Click here for the ScorecardThe teams:
Australia: DA Warner, SR Watson, RT Ponting, MJ Clarke, BJ Haddin, MEK Hussey, DJ Hussey, MG Johnson, B Lee, NW Bracken, NM Hauritz
Sri Lanka: TM Dilshan, ST Jayasuriya, KC Sangakkara, DPMD Jayawardene, J Mubarak, LPC Silva, AD Mathews, I Udana, BAW Mendis, SL Malinga, M Muralitharan
Join us on Facebook