Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
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Cricket Schedule
- February 3, 2008 : India vs Australia at Brisbane
- February 5, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka at Brisbane
- February 8, 2008 : Australia vs Sri Lanka at Sydney
- February 10, 2008 : India vs Australia at Melbourne
- February 12, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka at Canberra
- February 15, 2008 : Australia vs Sri Lanka at Perth
- February 17, 2008 : India vs Australia at Adelaide
- February 19, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka at Adelaide
- February 22, 2008 : Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
- February 24, 2008 : India vs Australia at Sydney
- February 26, 2008 : India vs Sri Lanka at Hobart
- February 29, 2008 : Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
- March 2, 2008 : 1st final at Sydney
- March 4, 2008 : 2nd final at Brisbane
- March 7, 2008 : 3rd final at Adelaide
Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
AUS vs SL, match 9, Melbourne: Australia confirm final berth
Feb 22, 2008
Sri Lanka's survival in the cricket tri-series hung by a slender thread after they lost to world champions Australia by 24 runs in a rain-curtailed encounter at Melbourne today.
Chasing Australia's modest score of 184 for seven, the islanders were 77 for four in 29.3 overs when rain forced a premature end to the proceedings with Sri Lanka well behind under the Duckworth-Lewis method. The two on-field umpires, Simon Taufel and Rudi Koertzen, waited for the rain to stop till the cut-off of 10.20 pm local time before calling off play. Since a minimum of 20 overs are required to constitute a game, Australia were declared winners and also got a bonus point.
The result of the rain-affected game dealt a huge blow to Sri Lanka's quest for a berth in the best-of-three finals as they now need to win their remaining two matches to have a chance. They would also need India to lose to Australia in Sydney on Sunday. With this victory, Australia confirmed their place in the finals and maintained their position atop the points table with 22 points from six games. India are second with 12 points from the same number of matches while Sri Lanka are at the bottom with six points from as many matches.
Sri Lanka did well to restrict the powerful Australian line-up to a moderate total but their batsmen once again let them down.
AUS vs SL, match 9, Melbourne: Australia 184-7 (50 overs) beat Sri Lanka 77-4 (29.3 overs) by 24 runs (D/L)
Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
Scores
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to field
184 for 7 (50.0 overs)
|
77 for 4 (29.3 overs)
|
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
|||
Gilchrist | b Vaas | 6 |
11 | 0 | 0 | |
Hayden | c Silva | b Maharoof | 23 |
53 | 3 | 0 |
Ponting | run out | 11 |
34 | 0 | 0 | |
Clarke | c and b | Muralitharan | 50 |
69 | 4 | 0 |
Symonds | c Sangakkara | b Maharoof | 4 |
6 | 0 | 0 |
M Hussey | not out | 64 |
98 | 1 | 0 | |
Hopes | st Sangakkara | b Muralitharan | 11 |
16 | 0 | 0 |
Hogg | c Dilshan | b Malinga | 4 |
4 | 0 | 0 |
Johnson | not out | 6 |
9 | 0 | 0 | |
Extras | 3w 2b | 5 | ||||
Total | for 7 | 184 | (50.0 ovs) |
|
|
Runs |
Balls |
4s |
6s |
|||
Perera | lbw | b Clark | 1 |
11 | 0 | 0 |
Jayasuriya | c Ponting | b Clark | 0 |
1 | 0 | 0 |
Sangakkara | c Symonds | b Hopes | 22 |
59 | 0 | 0 |
M Jayawardene | c Gilchrist | b Bracken | 27 |
45 | 3 | 0 |
Silva | not out | 17 |
47 | 0 | 0 | |
Dilshan | not out | 9 |
14 | 0 | 0 | |
Extras | 1w | 1 | ||||
Total | for 4 | 77 | (29.3 ovs) |
|
|
Umpires: R E Koertzen, S J A Taufel
Australia: Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting, Clarke, M Hussey, Hopes, Symonds, Hogg, Johnson, Bracken, Clark
Sri Lanka: Perera, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, Dilshan, Silva, Maharoof, Vaas, Malinga, Amerasinghe, Muralitharan
Australia vs Sri Lanka at Melbourne
Venue
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park in inner Melbourne, home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It holds the world record for the highest light towers at any sporting venue. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre, and is serviced by Richmond and Jolimont train stations.Internationally, the MCG is remembered as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The open-air stadium is also one of the world's most famous cricket venues, with the well-attended Boxing Day test match commencing on Boxing Day every year. Throughout the winter, it serves as the home of Australian rules football, with at least one game held there each round. In late September, the AFL Grand Final fills the stadium to capacity.