Match Report

On this, match 15, the last of the preliminary games of the Carlton & United Series, at the MCG, the weather is fine and cool, with none of the rainclouds that were in abundance last night anywhere to be seen.

The pitch is hard with not much surface grass, allowing for a bit of bounce. Warne finally winning a toss and electing to bat.

The Australians started slowly with a maiden over from Vaas, with the first run off the bat being scored on the 12th ball. The 8th ball was nearly costly as Gilchrist went to run and was very lucky that the bowler (Wickramasinghe) was inaccurate with trying to hit the stumps.

With the return of Vaas, Gilchrist rose to the occasion, smashing two boundaries consecutively and then a 3, scoring 16 for the over.

At the end of the fifth over the Australians have a score of 0/21, with Gilchrist on a total of 17 and Mark Waugh on 2.

In the 9th over, Gilchrist smashed some more boundaries, with his strike rate now 100.0.

The score at the end of 10 overs is 0/49, with Gilchrist on 33 and Waugh on 13.

Muralitharan costly to the Australians

Waugh and Gilchrist reached their 50 partnership on the 62nd ball.

Gilchrist smashed a 6 in the 12th over off Vaas, followed by a boundary to reach 52 runs off 43 balls.

Muralitharan finally got to bowl in the 15th over, bowling Mark Waugh with his second ball. Julian faced only two balls before holing out to the deep straight into the hands of Jayawardene.

Many are predicting that it will be Muralitharan's last visit to Australia. With a tally of 2/0 in the first over faced, you could understand why the Sri Lankans find him a valuable bowler.

From a good start with plenty of runs scored, after Waugh's loss at 92 Julian was brought in as a pinch hitter, for the fourth time in this series, a decision by Warne that today didn't pay off. At the end of 15 overs the total was 2/92.

Australia reached 100 from 104 balls after Ponting hit a boundary.

Gilchrist and Ponting set Australia for a big total

After 4 balls in his 4th over, Muralitharan appears to have aggravated a past groin injury, leaving the field with the team physio.

This session of play has been one with a few achievements for the Australians.

In the 25th over Gilchrist and Ponting reached their 50 partnership off 56 balls, with the tally being 150 from 154 balls in the same over.

In the 29th over, Gilchrist reached his 100 in 85 balls, with Ponting reaching his half century in the next over off 49 balls.

If the Australians keep their momentum and large strike rates we could see a score in excess of the 300 mark.

Strong playing from Gilchrist brings Australia closer to the 300 mark

Ponting and Gilchrist reached their partnership of 100 in just 95 balls in the 31st over. 2/200 at the end of the 31st over off 193 balls

Gilchrist seems to be quite confident out on the field today, smashing 3 sixes and 12 boundaries, with one of the sixes landing about 25 rows back into the crowd (30th over). He reached his equal highest score of 131 in the 36th over, which he has now passed.

Ponting is doing well again today, seeming to put his 3-match suspension behind him. He seems to be stronger in his approach and more focussed on where he is placing the ball on the field.

Amidst the high scores and misfields from the Sri Lankans, the crowd is rather subdued.

Ponting was dismissed for 61 off 64 balls in the 35th over, after a sweep taking a top edge and again Jayawardene making another easy catch look difficult. Score being 3/214.

Darren Lehmann joined Gilchrist out in the centre but seems to be more cautious. He is having a solid start, but is having a steady rate of play.

Word from the Sri Lankan dressing room is that Muralitharan will not be returning to play today because of his groin strain.

Gilchrist and Australia reach new heights

Gilchrist hit a six over midwicket to reach the highest score by an Australian in limited over internationals (146*) in the 44th over.

He scored more than the previous Australian record holders of Ricky Ponting in the '97/'98 season and Dean Jones in the '90/'91 season, both on 145.

The highlight of today's game would be the mammoth effort from Adam Gilchrist (154 off 129 balls), with him scoring 4 sixes and 14 boundaries while out in the centre.

As well as achieving the highest Australian score, it was also the highest score achieved at the MCG in cricket history.

Damien Martyn trying to hit big over mid wicket hitting at the wrong angle causing the ball to go straight up in the air, safely being caught by the wicketkeeper Kaluwitharana, with a score of 18. Australia reached their 300 runs from 293 balls, with Bevan and Lee at the crease.

The largest total achieved previously in the Carlton & United Series was been 8/302 against New Zealand scored by Australia.

A direct hit from Vaas meant that Lee was run out in the 49th over for 5 runs.

Warne received positive cheer from the crowd when reaching the wicket. He only scored 3 runs when going for a big hit through mid wicket caught by Tillarakaratne, leaving Kasprowicz to face the last delivery of the innings, scoring 2 to leave the tally at 310.

After such a good start with the combinations of Gilchrist/Mark Waugh and later Gilchrist/Ponting, it was such a shame that the wickets tumbled as they did, seeming to have the team lose some of their momentum. It was certainly an exciting innings from Australia, one that Sri Lanka may find difficult to compare.

Sri Lanka off to a good start

With the threat of rain looming, both teams are worried how the results of this match could eventuate.

In the early overs there were a couple of misfields by the Australians, Lee the first by dropping a seemingly easy catch, then a terrible fumble by Julian, which ruined the chance of a successful run-out.

The partnership of 50 between Gunawardene and Kaluwitharana came in the 8th over. Gunawardene doing well with 3 boundaries and a six in the first 5 overs Kaluwitharana seems to be a bit daunted by the challenge facing the Sri Lankan team, seems to be nervous and not at this stage focussed.

The Sri Lankans seem to be enjoying the bowling of McGrath, making light work of most of the balls faced.

Mark Waugh feeling intimidated by the closeness of the ball has moved to a more favourable position at short cover.

After 7 overs, the Sri Lankans are ahead by run rate.

Warne has been bringing in leg spinners early in the match, and moving the players around the field quite often in the early stages.

At the end of the first 10 overs, Sri Lanka are equalling the required run rate and seemed more relaxed than in the first few overs.

Sri Lanka on top after 20 overs

The Sri Lankans enjoyed the 11th over with Warne bowling, scoring 3 fours and a six, all from Kaluwitharana with a total of 19 off the over. Warne was receiving quite a bit of flak from the crowd.

The crowd is starting to liven up, possibly realising the potential of this match, considering the quiet atmosphere during the Australian innings. Or is it the fact that the liquid amber has kicked into the crowd?

It took just 81 balls for the two Sri Lankan openers to reach the 100, with both batsmen achieving their half centuries. Kaluwitharana reaching 51 runs off 40, and Gunawardene 52 runs from 43.

After 15 overs, Warne has moved some of the fielders back, trying to protect the boundary.

Warne appears very worried about the current state of play, not assisted with the way he himself has been bowling.

After 16 overs the Sri Lankans are 0/123 compared with Australia's 2/93 at the same time.

Shane Lee has been called in to bowl the 17th over, 4 runs taken off the over.

Third umpire (Bill Sheahan) called on the first ball of the 18th over for stumping of Kaluwitharana, but found to be safe.

Warne found some satisfaction in the 20th over with the wicket of Kaluwitharana for 68, the partnership reaching 145 for the openers, with Martyn taking the catch at cover.

Australia fight back

Shane Lee took the 2nd Sri Lankan wicket, having clean bowling Gunawardene, in just his 3rd over. Gunawardene scored an impressive 75 off 66 balls.

The two new batters Jayawardene and de Silva seem a bit nervous out in the centre, with both the openers falling virtually together. They were given a good start, but in their first over together Warne was able to achieve a maiden over, the first one for the innings.

Mark Waugh took an easy catch to claim De Silva off Lee's bowling in the 25th over for 11 runs.

Ranatunga with his newly grown moustache, quite a pleaser for the Wide World of Sports commentary team, when he walked on for the toss, was lucky escaping a run out from the third umpire, in the 25th. There was some confusion as to whether any of his body or bat was grounded when the bails fell.

He was not as lucky 3 balls later, clipping off the bat straight into Gilchrist's gloves for a single.

Bevan got called in to bowl the 26th over, 7 runs with two byes the result.

This mid session has been a costly one for the Sri Lankans wicket-wise, but they have managed to keep the runs above those in comparison with Australia.

It has been a good session for Shane Lee with his 3 wickets and 28 off 7 overs, leaving this now his best bowling performance in limited over internationals.

Australia apply the brakes

The atmosphere at the MCG is getting more excitable. For the attendance of just under 35,000 you wouldn't believe from the crowd that it is a high-scoring game with a few quick wickets falling.

In the 32nd over, Jayawardene made a foolish attempt for a quick single, where the batter on strike (Tillakaratne) decided to return after taking a few paces. Both the batters were at the striker's end with Lehmann knocking the bails off quite calmly after a throw from Mark Waugh.

Lehmann was able to get an easy wicket of Atapattu in the last ball of the 38th over, with a little bit of turn over leg stump, after Atapattu went for a big hit misjudging the direction of the ball.

The last 10 overs have been slow for the Sri Lankans, their run rate has slipped and are now behind the Australian rate at the end of 40 overs.

Gilchrist blasts Australia home

There were certainly a number of achievements for the Australians in this match, Gilchrist reaching the highest score for an Australia in limited over internationals with 154, which was also the highest score obtained at the MCG.

Australia also reached the highest score in Carlton & United Series history overcoming their previous highest score against New Zealand, by reaching a new total of 8/310, the former record being 8/302.

Overall, there were some pretty ordinary partnerships in the Sri Lankan innings, the only one with any substance was that of the openers Gunawardene and Kaluwitharana, with a partnership of 145. Where as there were two excellent partnerships with the Australian innings, those of Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh (92), and Gilchrist with Ricky Ponting with 121.

Many are predicting that it will be Muralitharan's last visit to Australia. With a tally of 2/0 in the first over faced, you could understand why the Sri Lankans find him a valuable bowler. Muralitharan left the field after 20.4 overs in the Australian innings, only bowling 4 overs, from an aggravated groin injury, the word from the Sri Lankan dressing room shortly after was that Muralitharan would not be returning to play. There was a problem with Muralitharan coming on to the field assisted with a runner, in the 47th over. Shane Warne, as captain, had a chat with umpire Daryl Harper but to no avail.

Australia started poorly with fielding but as the Sri Lankan innings progressed the Australians gathered some confidence and focus and were able to knock down a couple of crucial wickets and reducing the run rate of the Sri Lankans.

Glenn McGrath claimed two wickets for the match, now 21 for the series. He must be a top runner for the Player of the Series title.

Ponting finished the match catching the last batsman, Tillakaratne, while smashing for a boundary, leaving Shane Lee with 5 wickets and the Sri Lankan innings stopping at 267 with 2.5 overs to spare.

Adam Gilchrist not surprisingly awarded the Man of the Match.

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