Cricket: Sri Lanka caught in spinners' web
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Your support makes all the difference.Australia 256 and 471
Sri Lanka 547-8 dec and 164
Australia win by 16 runs
HAVING been outplayed for more than three days in Colombo, Australia fought their way back to a 16-run win after Sri Lanka had appeared poised for only their third Test win. It was not until the final session on Saturday that the match took a dramatic twist, the Australian spinners, Greg Matthews and Shane Warne, taking seven wickets.
Sri Lanka, needing 181 runs in 58 overs, were dismissed for 164 in the 52nd. Matthews took 4 for 76 off 20 overs and Warne returned 3 for 11, his best figures in Test cricket. More than Australia's bowling, though, it was Sri Lanka's irresponsible batting that led to their downfall.
Following an opening stand of 76 between Roshan Mahanama and Chandika Hathurusinghe and a rapid 37 off 32 balls from Aravinda De Silva, Sri Lanka looked to be comfortably placed at 127 for 2. However, De Silva's ungainly stroke off Craig McDermott, which led to a catch at mid-wicket by Allan Border, heralded the start of a spectacular collapse as the last seven Sri Lankan wickets went down for 37 runs in 17 overs.
After Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lanka's captain, was caught by Border off McDermott without scoring, the rest of the batting - with the exception of Asanka Gurusinha - was swept away by Matthews and Warne. Gurusinha was at the crease for 135 minutes to remain unbeaten on 31 in a scoreboard where only the top four batsmen reached double figures.
Australia, beginning the day at 393 for 7, stubbornly resisted until the second over after lunch, when they were finally all out for 471. The off-spinner, Matthews, led the resistance, staying for 195 minutes as he scored 64 in an innings which included nine fours. He was well supported in an eighth-wicket stand of 56 by McDermott, who had made 40 before falling leg before to the bowling of the persevering Champaka Ramanayake.
Ramanayake then removed Matthews before Australia's last pair of Warne and Mike Whitney shared a stand of 40 to frustrate Sri Lanka for nearly an hour. Warne, the 22-year-old leg-spinner from Victoria, made 35 - his highest score in a Test match - and Sri Lanka contributed to their downfall by swelling the extras to 58 with 34 no-balls.
Meanwhile, Border said that Sri Lanka would now be more difficult to beat. 'They will get a kick up the backside,' Australia's captain said. 'I've been part of Australian sides that have lost from positions like Sri Lanka were in, so I know exactly what they are going through. It has happened to me on three occasions and it's the first time I've won like that. I have to write it down as one of the best victories.'
COLOMBO: Australia won by 16 runs.
(Sri Lanka won toss)
AUSTRALIA - First Innings 256 (I A Healy 66no; U C Hathurusinghe 4-66, C P H Ramanayake 3-51).
SRI LANKA - First Innings 547 for 8 dec (A P Gurusinha 137, R Kaluwitharana 132no, A Ranatunga 127; G R J Matthews 3-93).
AUSTRALIA - Second Innings
(Overnight: 393 for 7)
G R J Matthews c Kaluwitharana
b Ramanayake 64
C J McDermott lbw b Ramanayake 40
S K Warne b Anurasiri 35
M R Whitney not out 10
Extras (lb23 nb34 w1) 58
Total 471
Fall (cont): 8-417 9-431.
Bowling: Ramanayake 37-10-113-3; Wickremasinghe 19-0-79-1; Hathurusinghe 27-7-79-1; Anurasiri 34-3-127-4; Madurasinghe
14-1-50-0.
SRI LANKA - Second Innings
R S Mahanama c Boon b Matthews 39
U C Hathurusinghe run out 36
A P Gurusinha not out 31
P A De Silva c Border b McDermott 37
* A Ranatunga c Border b McDermott 0
M Atapattu b Matthews 1
R Kaluwitharana b Matthews 4
C P H Ramanayake lbw b Matthews 6
G P Wikremasinghe c Waugh b Warne 2
S D Anurasiri c Waugh b Warne 1
R Madurasinghe c Matthews b Warne 0
Extras (b2 lb3 nb2) 7
Total 164
Fall: 1-76 2-79 3-127 4-132 5-133 6-137 7-147 8-150 9-156.
Bowling: McDermott 14-4-43-2; Whitney 5-2-13- 0; Moody 5-0-10-0; Matthews 20-2-76-4; Waugh 2-0-6-0; Warne 5.1-3-11-3.
Umpires: K T Francis and T M Samarasinghe.
Man of the match: G R J Matthews.
Second Test: Khettarama Stadium, Colombo, starting Friday.
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