Brisbane: Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 15 runs in first final of the Commonwealth Bank Series to take a 1-0 lead in the best of three finals. For Australia, it was their swashbuckling opener David Warner who led their charge by scoring 163 runs out of Australia’s total of 321.
Earlier in the day the home team won the toss and elected to bat first. Their opener proved that Michael Clarke’s call was right as they put up a partnership of 136, the best that they got in the series. Their wicket-keeper MS Wade got out on 64 after giving Australia a solid start. His partner Warner, on the other hand was looking to convert the start that he got into his first substantial score of the series.
Warner’s place was in doubt before the match started, as he only got one fifty in all the matches that he played, this time around he was in a mood for a big one and that’s exactly what he delivered. He was ably supported by his skipper who scored a quick-fire 37, which included five boundaries.
In reply, Sri Lanka lost early wickets and were three down before getting to the 100 mark. Things continued to get worse for the visitors as they lost the in-form Chandimal and Thirimanne as well. The Lankans lost their sixth wicket on the score of 144 runs and it was looking that they will go down easily.
But, just like the way they have fought in the series so far, they came back in the match again. This time it was the 104 run partnership between Upul Tharanga and Nuwan Kulasekara that brought them back in the match. It was the efforts of the Australian vice-captain that ensured that Australia will seal the victory. He bowled beautifully in the last few overs and picked up three wickets.
Sri Lanka needed 16 runs from the last over, but failed to achieve that because of some good variations from Watson.
Brief Score:
Australia: 321/6 (Warner 163, Prasad 2-51)
Sri Lanka: 306/10 (Kulasekara73, D Hussey 4-43)
