Champions trophy: Aussies get caught in spin web

Saurav Ganguly was given a fair idea of what to expect for Sunday’s final against Sri Lanka on Friday night as the hosts repeated their...

Saurav Ganguly was given a fair idea of what to expect for Sunday’s final against Sri Lanka on Friday night as the hosts repeated their 1999 victory over the World Cup champions Australia amid a tumultuous reception at Premadasa Stadium.

Sri Lanka reached the ICC Champions Trophy final with seven wickets in hand, knocking off the 163 needed to win with 10 overs to spare. What the Lankans had prepared was spinner’s surface and with Aravinda de Silva effectively tying up one end, the four-pronged spin attack slayed whatever threat there was from the Wizards of Oz.

Sri Lankans celebrate the fall of an Australian wicket during their semi-final match on Friday. (Reuters)

The result was about as dismissively crushing as any Australian side would have had since its last visit to the Emerald Island’s capital three years ago when the nation was jolted by a civil war. With the peace talks starting, the game was played in a more relaxed atmosphere with a sea of Lankan flags in a packed stadium.

At the Australian pre-match media briefing the day before, Ponting offered the tongue-in-cheek comment that each Australian batsman would have to work out his own game plan against Muttiah Muralitharan. No doubt Steve Waugh and his younger twin Mark would have given their own thoughts on this touchy subject. The Waugh brothers would have batted with more circumspection. While Steve looked on from the pavilion, Mark was part of the TV commentary team. A touch of irony considering they were part of the side which lost by eight wickets in 1999.

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Although Jayasuriya led the Lankan charge for runs, it was fellow opener Marvan Atapattu who, with a half-century, anchored the effort. And as is typical of an Atapattu innings there was little to remember. Kumar Sangakkara on the other hand was full of gusto and put together some entertaining strokes as he pulled together a tidy innings of 48.

SCOREBOARD

AUSTRALIA: A Gilchrist c Atapattu b Dharmasena 31, M Hayden b De Silva 13, R Ponting lbw Vaas 3, D Martyn run out 28, D Lehmann run out 0, M Bevan c Arnold b Dharmasena 12, S Watson c Jayasuriya b Muralitharan 7, S Warne st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 36, B Lee b Jayasuriya 18, J Gillespie not out 2, G McGrath b Muralitharan 0; Extras (b-10, lb-1, w-1): 12
Total (All out, in 48.4 overs): 162
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-49, 3-56, 4-57, 5-96, 6-97, 7-107, 8-153, 9-162
Bowling: Vaas 7-2-31-1, Gunaratne 2-0-15-0, Dharmasena 10-1-30-2, De Silva 10-2-16-1, Muralitharan 9.4-0-26-3, Chandana 7-0-22-0, Jayasuriya 3-0-11-1

SRI LANKA: S Jayasuriya b Warne 42, M Atapattu lbw McGrath 51, K Sangkkara c Gilchrist b McGrath 48, A de Silva not out 2, M Jayawardene not out 1; Extras (b-4, lb-2, nb-6, w-7): 19
Total (For 3 wkts, in 40 overs): 163
Fall of wickets: 1-67, 2-142, 3-160
Bowling: McGrath 10-1-41-2, Gillespie 8-1-28-0, Warne 10-2-25-1, Lee 7-1-39-0, Lehmann 5-0-24-0

If Ponting was, in a sense, partly dismissive of the role Kandy Prince Murali might play in the game, no one thought about Aravinda de Silva’s mighty mouse efforts. Brought on at the seventh over of the innings, Aravinda’s guile and skill was almost as gentle as a leg pull. Matthew Hayden was bowled by a delivery which was as good as any bargain basement sale jackpot. When Adam Gilchrist followed in the next over, the bristling, nervous adrenalin surfaced on and off the field.

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History was about to repeat itself as the wickets tumbled and Jayasuriya, as was the case three years ago, was under less pressure. With no partnerships to speak of, and the innings wobbling at 97 for 6 at 25.5 overs, even a social league captain could have led Sri Lanka without too many problems.

With Kumar Dharmasena, Upal Chandana and Muralitharan adding depth to the cause, Jayasuriya allowed himself just three overs, there was no need to use Arnold who pulled off a couple of easy catches. The Australian batsmen were at times bewildered, and at times bemused by the slow, low conditions. Driving into the V was a tricky occupation and hopefully the Indians studied the flawed Australian efforts and filed them for memory purposes. (TheWicket.Com)