Cool Aussie stem Sri Lanka fightback

Colombo (Sri Lanka) - As you would expect from world champions Australia, they have become quite adept this year at stubbing out spirited revivals and last night's effort was no different to the rest, although they have had their noses bloodied on occasions.

Perhaps the victory by 27 runs at the Premadasa Stadium which cemented their place in the Aiwa Cup final (as if it had ever been in doubt) was a little too close for skipper Steve Waugh's general comfort but he's not going to lose much sleep over it. What was more pleasing though was Sri Lanka's ability to fight back with debutant Charmara Silva slapping a half-century together to launch a successful LOI career.

Then again the Australians, posting their 241 for nine must have thought they had done more than enough to collect their third successive win of the series. They were also magnanimous enough to recognise Sri Lanka's willingness to fight against the odds and blasting away to the end when they scored 214 in the 48th over of the innings.

And when Shane Warn had Adam Gilchrist stump the 20-year-old rookie Silva who was brought back early from the Sri Lanka A team tour of England specifically for this series, earned the legspinner's applause for a job 'well done'. If Silva rescued with Upal Chandana the innings to total disintegration it was just the sort of effort needed to put some heart into a big crowd stunned into silence for long periods as Sri Lanka's efforts to regroup were continually shot away by the cool, professional World Cup champions.

When he arrived at 86 for five with the departure of Russel Arnold, Silva must have wondered what sort of job he had been left to do. After all, it needs a bit of pluck and style to tackle the Wizards of Oz. He went to his 50 off 79 balls and when he was finally stumped in the 45th over he had managed to collect four boundaries as well as do a fair amount of running short singles as well as gallop two and the odd three if he was prepared to take on the field.

It is too soon to suggest that Sri Lanka have found another young star. He looks promising enough and his career is going to be followed with some interest in this part of the globe where there is deep passion for the game. If Sri Lanka's batting needed kickstarting more than once, Australia's innings was more in keeping with a patchwork quilt than the sort of blanket effort you normally expect designed to smother the opposition bowling and set up a massive total, not that the final tally was any less than imposing. There were some purple patches, golden touches and bold relief all well stitched together by entertaining strokeplay.

You did not have to look too far either for elegance and style with some handsome driving from Mark Waugh who enjoyed himself and the way he placed the ball into the vee he always had the measure of the bowling. In fact the only way he was going to get out was through his own folly. And before he presented De Saram with his second catch of the innings he managed to get well past his 43rd half-century at LOIs level.

He may have had only five fours to show for his efforts, but the is partly a tribute to the eager Sri Lanka ground fielding and the well-grassed outfield. Yet his ability to drive forcibly on the up to balls which were often scuttling through gave the impression of a man at home with his game. There were other parts of the patchwork, however, which are better forgotten. Darren Lehmann's expansive off-drive did little more than drag Chandana's drifting leg-spin into his stumps; Ricky Ponting's pull gave De Saram his first catch and Steve Waugh's leading edge ended with the Aussie skipper departing with 12 to his name after a straight-forward catch. Mind you, Mark departed in similar fashion seven runs later having nursed the total to 167 before he became the fifth wicket to fall.

And you could see the general disappointment as they both marched off fed up with the way they had got out. While Mark had done all the hard work in a bid to build a match-winning total, apart from Adam Gilchrist and Michael Bevan, no one else managed to get past 20.

What was impressive was the Lankan fielding. It was aggressive and purposeful, especially without the heavyweights lumbering around and slowing down the process and allowing runs to haemorrhage as had been the case in the last World Cup. The fielding efforts yesterday were remarkably similar to those of the World Cup side of 1996and is a tribute to Trevor Chappell's hard work over the last couple of weeks. If there were precious few boundaries in the Australian innings the top five Lanka batsmen contributed one between them and that was by Jayasuriya before Ponting pulled off a stunning bit of fielding by catching him in the gully. There was his run out of Russel Arnold as well which added another notch to his burgeoning tally of victims.

Sri Lanka though, perhaps disturbed by criticism within their ranks of their efforts against Australia in Galle, and young enough to take some of it to heart, were undone by three run outs, the first of which occurred when Marvan Atapattu involuntary fell on his sword just as his partnership with Russel was showing signs of prospering and fashioning a glimmer of faint possibilities. But with three wickets falling for the additional of three runs in a matter of 13 balls as the inexperience of the top-order showed, the Lankans cause was always going to be hard to swallow for the vociferous Premadasa Stadium crowd which was about two-thirds full.

The start of their replay may have been a matter of jolly and jaunty, but once Jayasuriya went it was a matter of the innings following a pattern of collapse and survival as well as a spark of defiance. Arnold added some top-order spine and a 62 ball innings of 41 under the sort of pressure the Australians can exert was not too bad for a young man who has all too often been overlooked. Perhaps it is also time the Sri Lanka selectors made a commitment and gave him an extended run.

The left-hander did score a limited overs century against North West at Fochville 18 months ago when Sri Lanka toured South Africa when he opened the innings early in the tour but after that was virtually overlooked by the touring team's selection hierarchy and has had few opportunities since. At 25 Russel is one of the more deserving causes in the side, especially as he is a useful off-spinner.

De Saram as well as the team's vice-captain Mahela Jayawardena need to be more circumspect when batting. De Saram worked one across the line and opened up a gap narrow enough for a three wheeler to scoot through while Jayawardena was unwise enough to attempt to cut McGrath and present the big Australian bowler with an easy wicket.