MELBOURNE, FEB 7: Australia won the last of the preliminary matches in the Carlton United series after Adam Gilchrist went on a stroke-making binge against Sri Lanka and posted the highest score at Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was Gilchrist's second century in the series against Sri Lanka and it won him the Player of the Match award.Gilchrist is the ideal partner for Mark Waugh and their combination is a good one; a left and right-hander, an aggressive striker and a classy strokemaker. Gilchrist's ability to hit over the top and get the innings off to a fast start allows Waugh to play his natural game and this is ideal for Australia. The combination worked perfectly as Gilchrist battered the Sri Lankan opening attack into submission.Early on, it was Chaminda Vaas who suffered and after being hit for six, a magnificent drive over long on and then after successive fours, the bowler finished on his knees in the middle of the pitch.On this occasion, it was because he tripped after delivering the ball,but it could easily have been frustration at the treatment being meted out. Pramodya Wickremasinghe escaped the punishment in his early overs as he troubled Waugh with a bit of bounce, but eventually Gilchrist caught up with him and one slower ball went way over backward square-leg for his second six.It took a change to spin bowling to halt the mayhem and Muttiah Muralitharan claimed two wickets in his first over, Waugh and pinch hitter Brendon Julian. However, the joy didn't last long for Sri Lanka as the off-spinner had to leave the field with a groin injury.Gilchrist hit four sixes and 14 fours in compiling the best One-day international score by an Australian player.Thanks primarily to Gilchrist's exhilarating innings Australia posted their highest total at the MCG and left Sri Lanka with a monumental chase. It quickly became a reasonable chase as Avishka Gunawardane tore into the bowling with his wristy, well-timed strokeplay and after struggling for a few overs, Romesh Kaluwitharana joined inthe fray. Gunawardane hit one straight six and then a remarkable square-drive that cleared the ropes at point as the run-rate soared and Shane Warne brought himself into the attack in an attempt to slow their progress. This had the affect of galvanising Kaluwitharana into action and he hit 19 off Warne's second over with three fours and a six over long-on.The total reached 121 after 15 overs, but just when they threatened to run amok, Kaluwitharana attempted to hit Warne over cover point, mis-timed the shot and holed out. At the other end, Shane Lee, who had dropped Kaluwitharana early on, made amends by extracting a little extra bounce and claimed three quick wickets. The loss of Aravinda de Silva was a big blow and then when he accounted for Arjuna Ranatunga, Lee had broken the back of Sri Lanka's resistance.SCOREBOARDAUSTRALIA: A Gilchrist c Tillakaratne b Vaas 154, M. Waugh b Muralitharan 19, B Julian c Jayawardane b Muralitharan 0, R Ponting c Jayawardane b de Silva 61, D Lehmann cRanatunga b Samaraweera 27, D Martyn c Kaluwitharana b Wickremasinghe 18, M Bevan (not out) 11, S Lee (run out) 5, S Warne c Tillakaratne b Vaas 3, M Kasprowicz (not out) 2. Extras (b4, w4, nb2) 10.Total (for 8 wickets in 50 overs) 310.Fall Of Wickets: 1-92, 2-92, 3-213, 4-253, 5-286, 6-291, 7-301, 8-307.Bowling: Vaas 10-1-68-2, Wickremasinghe 9-0-52-1, Muralitharan 3.4-1-15-2, De Silva 10-0-55-1, Tillakaratne 1.2-0-11-0, Samaraweera 9-0-60-1, Jayawardane 7-0-45-0.SRI LANKA: A Gunewardane b Lee 75, R Kaluwitharana c Martyn b Warne 68, PA de Silva c M Waugh b Lee 11, M Jayawardane (run out) 27, A Ranatunga c Gilchrist b Lee 1, H Tillakaratne c Ponting b Lee 42, MS Atapattu b Lehmann 12, C Vaas b McGrath 14, T Samaraweera b Lee 3, G Wickremasinghe c Gilchrist b McGrath 4, M Muralitharan (not out) 1; Extras (b2, lb2, w1, nb4) 9.Total (all out in 47.1 overs) 267.Fall Of Wickets: 1-145, 2-147, 3-164, 4-166, 5-200, 6-225, 7-248, 8-255,9-265.Bowling: McGrath 8-0-46-2, Kasprowicz 8-0-45-0, Warne 8-1-51-1, Julian 5-0-45-0, Lee 8.1-0-33-5, Bevan 3-0-15-0, Lehmann 7-0-28-1.Australia won by 43 runs.Man of the Match: Adam Gilchrist (Aus).
