Michael Clarke’s promotion to opener failed to produce dividends as Australia crashed to a seven-wicket Twenty20 loss to Sri Lanka at the WACA Ground on Sunday.
Important knocks from Steve Smith (34 off 23) and Brad Haddin (35 off 30) saved Australia from total embarrassment as the hosts recovered from 5-43 in the 11th over to post 8-133.
But Sri Lanka were never troubled by Australia’s fourth lowest T20 total.
Mahela Jayawardene (24 off 16) got the tourists off to a flyer before Tillakaratne Dilshan (41 off 34) and Kumar Sangakkara (44 off 43) combined for a 71-run stand that saw Sri Lanka cruise to 3-135 with 21 balls remaining.
Clarke entered the match with a meagre average of 21.45 in 33 Twenty20 internationals.
The 29-year-old opened the batting with David Warner and should have been run-out on two after he was left stranded mid-pitch attempting a quick run.
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s miss from close-range gave Clarke a reprieve but his luck ran out soon after, with a brilliant one-handed catch by Dilhara Fernando while running backwards in the deep bringing the Australian skipper’s innings to an end on 16 off 19 balls.
Warner (2), Shane Watson (4), David Hussey (7) and Cameron White (8) also failed as spinner Suraj Randiv (3-25) and Thisara Perera (2-22) ripped through the Aussie line-up.
Retiring spinner Muttiah Muralidaran finished with 0-31 off four overs in his final outing in Perth.
Australia needed quick wickets to have any chance of defending their meagre total but Jayawardene’s blistering start cruelled those hopes.
His dismissal at the hands of Peter Siddle (1-34) in the fourth over failed to slow proceedings as Dilshan and Sangakkara took the game away with a clinical partnership.
It marked Australia’s first Twenty20 loss on home soil in 11 outings.
But of more concern, it continued a losing run that has now seen Australia drop four Twenty20s on the trot and three Tests.
Clarke, who was booed by fans when he was introduced for the post-match interview out on the field, said his team simply didn’t post a competitive enough total.
“We have no excuses. I think we were outplayed tonight, as simple as that,” Clarke said.
“We were just disappointing with the bat.”
Australia will be looking to turn around that form in Wednesday’s one-day clash with Sri Lanka at the MCG.
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