Ruthlessness is described in the dictionaries as being 'without pity or compassion'. This was the characteristic not shown by Sri Lanka in dispatching Australia to further doom. It was shown in abundance,by them on various teams between 13th April 1996 and 1st October 1996
Agreed that the series was won before they went into the third match but it was not a reason enough to take the foot off the accelerator. Having won the toss and electing to bat, they did not get off to an auspicious start as they lost their top-order in moments of madness to McKay who got the ball to move in appreciably
Dilshan was guilty of choosing a wrong ball to flick as he moved across and flicked one into the hands of Hussey at square-leg. Sangakkara after being beaten by a peach of a delivery chased one outside the off stump and went back without troubling the scorers. Same was the case with his old mate Jayawardene as he looked to drive a ball, short of a fuller length and found the outside edge flying to White at second slip
Things did not begin so well for Australia though, as McKay opened the match with a wide and saw a catch being dropped off him at backward point by Smith. Mitchell Johnson began well by working up some pace off a shorter run-up and genuinely seemed to trouble the batsmen
After the hara-kiri by the top order, Tharanga and Silva set about getting the things right. Tharanga having survived a run-out chance was looking scratchy on a pitch that was aiding bowling. He seemed to have a problem with anything pitched in line and was severe when given width as he played a couple of powerful cut shots and played a few drives too. Silva on the other hand was intent on playing the delivery on it's merit
Silva it was who broke the voodoo of McKay on the batsmen by flicking him through midwicket for a boundary. Watson replaced Mitchell Johnson and got Silva to drive in the air. He went for the shot and got an outside edge to Smith at point. Smith took the catch on a half-volley and conveyed the same to the players and the umpires
Starc replaced McKay from the other end and immediately got an edge from Tharanga that fell short of the first slip and he beat the outside edge of Tharanga once again to cap off a good over. Perhaps the away going deliveries shook up Tharanga as he played inside the line to a Watson delivery and was plumb in front of the wicket
Mathews came in to an attacking field and set about by rotating the strike. Watson could have had Silva in his next over but Ferguson running from midwicket was not inclined to dive, having just recuperated from a knee operation. Silva looked to be good control as he drove to sweeper cover, twice in a over from Starc and Watson bowled good containing line to Silva
Doherty replaced Starc and opened with a good over. He further got Silva to do the unusual by making him sweep from outside the off stump. He got a top edge to fine-leg. Silva then rocked back and cut one past point for a boundary. The partnership was beginning to look menacing. Starc replaced Watson from the other end and was rewarded in the same over as Mathews came down the track and got an inside-edge onto the stumps, while looking to go over the infield. Starc was ecstatic as it was his first international wicket
Starc now buoyed up by his maiden wicket picked up his second when he got Mendis to fend one off to Haddin who collected it chest height and sort of opened the floodgates. McKay replaced Doherty in what was superb move by Clarke and he had the batsmen pushing away from their body. That over was instantly rewarded as Silva drove at a fuller ball from Starc without quite moving his feet and got a thick inside edge and heard the death rattle. With Thisara Perrera coming in, Sri Lanka took the batting powerplay and it was of no use as Perrera looked to drive and only managed to send it up high in the air. Smith who dropped one earlier in the day, redeemed himself by taking this steepler
Malinga came in with the scores bearing an eery resemblance to the match at Melbourne, only this time he did not have Matthews for compnay. He began by throwing kitchen sink, bath tub at the balls but was unable to connect. At the end of a Starc over he was completely deceived by a slower ball and was all smiles
Randiv then opened up against McKay as he drove one past point for a boundary. That joy was shortlived as he looked to drive once again, missed the line and McKay hit the the stumps and got his first five-for in representational cricket. Starc then bought the innings to an end as he had Malinga pulling one straight into the hands of Ferguson at deep midwicket
Starc and McKay capped highly beneficial spells as they took 9 wickets between themselves and did the job the bowlers had to. It was left to the batsmen to chase it down
Australia's chase started off in earnest as Watson cut Malinga to third-man of the first ball. Fernando did not help the matters by conceding 11 runs of his first over. Haddin started off by looking circumspect but it was Watson who opened up at the other end as he feasted on a fuller ball on the legs by flicking it to midwicket
Haddin then punched off the backfoot through covers for his first boundary. Australia suffered their first setback when Watson was beaten by pace and looked to guide a pacy ball to third-man and ended up in getting an outside edge to first slip where Matthews made no mistake
Clarke came in with plenty running on his mind according to the local media and got off the mark in a streaky fashion by top-edging a pull to third-man for a boundary. Perrera replaced Malinga and bowled good length's in the first over. Fernando then bowled a tidy over as Australia were looking towards the break after two overs
Clarke had other ideas as he pulled out the strokes from his bag. He first on-drove a fuller ball on the off stump for a boundary and then pulled with his backfoot being the pivot to midwicket for another boundary. Fernando had the pace but spraying the ball and Clarke pulled one such ball with authority to midwicket and Australia went into the break at 63/1
Jeevan Mendis came on immediately after the break and Clarke started using his feet straightaway as he drove and pulled him. Haddin then picked the wrong one of his bowling and pulled it to deep midwicket for a boundary. Adding insult to the injury, Mendis dropped a straight forward chance at mid-off of Fernando. Malinga came back to replace Mendis and Haddin guided him past the second slip for a boundary
Pace and bounce was the undoing for Haddin as he looked to pull and got a top-edge that was easily taken by Fernando. That was the last success that Sri Lanka had as Clarke then drove Malinga, came down the track and lofted Randiv over long-on, and finally guided Perrera to third-man to get to a half-century and secure the win
Clarke looked the effervescent self of his initial years and was pretty happy in finishing the things off. He thus ensured that Australia put a halt to their worst losing streak and enter Ashes in a positive frame of mind
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