Rain has thwarted Australia’s attempt to square the series, after only 3.2 overs were completed in the second innings following the home side’s 9/222.
For the first time this summer Australia’s line-up was unchanged, looking to make amends for the woeful outing in Brisbane just two days earlier, while Sri Lanka welcomed back Dinesh Chandimal and Rangana Herath.
In similar conditions to those at the Gabba, Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat, undeterred by overhead cloud and the threat of rain.
Nuwan Kulasekara continued his rich vein of form, removing Phil Hughes in his first over.
Hughes’s weekend reminded fans of his glaring technical flaw, falling yet again caught behind after Kulasekara squared him up with another pearler. Like Chris Martin in 2011, Kulasekara troubled the left-handed Hughes by angling the ball across him. Old habits die hard.
Clarke arrived and immediately his intent was clear, with a glorious cover drive off just his second delivery faced. He repeated the dose two balls later, stamping his authority as if to say “bring it on”.
Kulasekara continued to ask questions with movement off the pitch, but Warner and Clarke were determined to survive and keep the series alive.
Clarke however, made a run-a-ball 20 before Kulasekara snaked another delivery back into Clarke’s legs to have him lbw.
Warner continued to play, miss and leave the ball, but throughout he appeared resolute.
At the other end, Lasith Malinga executed a brilliantly directed plan to dismiss David Hussey, pushing him deep into his crease with a series of searing short deliveries before eventually having him caught behind with a distinct lack of footwork. Yet again Australia’s innings was in disarray at 3/53.
George Bailey didn’t look like he would fare much better than his counterparts, playing and missing to five Malinga out-swingers.
He did manage to grind, compiling a battling 22 before recklessly throwing his wicket away, caught at mid-on off Herath, ending a 40-run stand.
Warner defied the carnage at the other end, keeping the scoreboard active with a bold knock. With a marvellous drive through the offside, Warner registered a brilliant half-century, but he was well aware the job was only half complete.
Unfortunately for Warner, his innings prematurely ended on 60, when he was controversially adjudged lbw to Thisara Perera despite two discernible noises.
Replays confirmed Warner’s disgruntled sentiments, and a thick inside edge was revealed. Further to Warner’s misfortune was the fact Clarke earlier wasted the one and only referral available, despite the ball clearly hitting middle.
Three overs later Moises Henriques fell victim to another umpiring howler. Henriques was determined lbw by umpire Paul Reiffel despite inside edging Herath, leaving Australia 6/130.
Clarke’s wishful referral had now potentially cost his side two crucial wickets.
Trying to eke out as many runs as possible and lift the total to something in the realms of 200, Australia’s last recognised batsman Matthew Wade made 31 before he was caught at third man trying to seize the initiative with less than 10 overs remaining.
Like the previous match at the Gabba, Mitchell Starc was left with the task of milking as many runs as possible.
Again he batted well, this time yielding a quick-fire 52* and guiding Australia to 9/222 having arrived at the wicket with the score just 7/145.
Starc registered his maiden ODI half-century, finding the boundary three times in the final two overs to seemingly seize the momentum for the hosts.
Sri Lanka will be disappointed that they allowed the final Australian pairing to add 40, despite the earlier brilliance from Kulasekara (3/30) and Malinga (2/33).
The second stanza of the match was highlighted by an unofficial world record for the longest beer snake as the crowd kept themselves amused throughout the rain delay.
Sri Lanka’s innings had started without hiccup to be 0/14. Unfortunately, that would be how it stayed as the umpires deemed the outfield unsuitable for play despite a rain-less 45 minute period.
The no-result outcome ensures Sri Lanka cannot lose the series. Australia however, will be hoping to save face in Hobart and Wednesday and at least balance the ledger.
Sanjay
Guest
i think for the Indian series watson is needed in the side, but is a weak link at #3. his allround capabilities make him a must at 6, with his seamers very handy in subcontinental wickets that promote reverse swing. with watto in the side it allows us to play two spinners, so it gives another bloke like beer or holland a shot. with watto jumping down, i think usman deserves to play at 4 with clarke at 5. hughes is a good young batsman who i think will thrive at 3. as for my XI in India, Warner, Cowan(needing runs though), Hughes, Khwaja, Clarke(c), Watson, Wade, Siddle, Pattinson, Lyon, Beer 12th Bird
Felix
Guest
Couldn't agree more. What boggles the mind is why do we bother with the likes of Henriques, Smith and Maxwell trying to find the next adequate all-rounder when we have Starc, Johnson (on his day) and Cutting who are all capable with a bat. We bat so deep with those in the ODI team you can flick off the can't-do-anything-wells from the #7 position and play a specialist batsman. I'd drop Mackay and Henriques, bring in Khawaja and Cutting and keep a very close eye on Mr Technique 2k3 P Hughes.
Felix
Guest
Couldn't agree more. What boggles the mind is why do we bother with the likes of Henriques, Smith and Maxwell trying to find the next adequate all-rounder when we have Starc, Johnson (on his day) and Cutting who are all capable with a bat. We bat so deep with those in the ODI team you can flick off the can't-do-anything-wells from the #7 position and play a specialist batsman. I'd drop Mackay and Henriques, bring in Khawaja and Cutting and keep a very close eye on Mr Technique 2k3 P Hughes.
Matt
Guest
- Why bother with on-field then. Even if you have a 10% chance of staying in, you'd probably refer it - Lying isn't necessarily the problem. It all happens so quickly, it's quite feasible to think you hit it before pad when in reality it was the oppsoite.
Sanjay
Guest
There are so many breaks in a cricket match, it should be a priority to get lbw decisions right. All LBW decisions given out should be given the ability to be appealed. Maybe a good way to ensure it is not abused is to penalise the batting team 5 runs if they claim they hit the ball and replays showed they lied. Auditions will continue, they have to! Thank goodness the shield is about to start again I say. Guys need to make big runs and pull the finger out. David Hussey has been a big disappointment with some woeful footwork. He's better than he's shown but looks terribly out of form. Maxwell just isn't ready. Bad technique always gets exposed when the ball is moving around a bit as we saw today and in Brisbane. Bailey and Hughes are great in perfect conditions batting on a road but as soon as there is some movement in the air or off the deck they're in a world of trouble, and they aren't the only ones. Bring Khawaja in and take a look at Doolan as backup. Khawaja needs to be back in this team now. At least he has the technique to thrive in tough conditions. Starc continues to amaze me.
Matt
Guest
Then there's less point, players can just complain it was bad and tell the umpire to ask the 3rd umpire for his opinion. It's either one or the other IMO.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
It's still in place, it's just that the 3rd umpire should have the freedom to use some common sense.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Watson's injured so we'll have to do without him for a little while longer. I think he's targeting a return for the WIndies series, though who really knows with Watto. I think they were too quick to pull the trigger on Khawaja and Finch. Their domestic form should have given them a few more games to show what they can do
Red Kev
Guest
Your definition of an allrounder is correct for tests, for limited overs matches I define an allrounder as a guy who can average 25 with the bat and 35 with the ball and can slog a quickfire 50 at the end of an inning if needed and bowl his allotment of 10 overs every match - I actually really liked Christian last season in the ODI side.
Matt
Guest
I'm over these all rounders. If they actually could bat or bowl, then great, but I haven't seen any of them do either. Not to keep going on Watson, he's probably not half the player he was 09-10, but he was averaging like what, 45 at opener? And taking a handful of wickets most games. THAT is an all rounder. Someone who makes 20, then takes 1 wicket every game or two is not an all rounder.
Matt
Guest
What's the point of the DRS then.
Matt
Guest
Summarising it better, that is what we need - someone who can knuckle down, make 50 odd, even if it's off 100-150 balls. This is why I did like Watson, he would consistently make 40-80, even if he choked every time he got a sniff of a century. I would take that over Hughes 100,5,5,5,,5,100,5,5,5,5,5 format. He set us up for the first game, super. What has he contributed in the next 3? Any league fan can tell you at the end of the season it's the consistent teams who make the top 8, and often go close or win. You'd rather a team of "more average" players then someone like the Tigers who'll smash a good side 50-0 one week, then lose to bottom of the ladder 30-6 the next. Though I haven't seen Watson in play in forever, so who knows his current form. But whoever it is we need, a rock at 5 or 6. At the moment when the going gets tough it's a procession until they hit the tail.
Matt
Guest
Siddle did it all the time in the test team. He and whoever was left would turn 150 into 240 and make it look like Australia can actually bat. It's funny though, when the pressure is on the tail can bat, and often not too far off a run a ball pace. When the job is done and they just need to add some icing, they often flop, and aren't going at a faster strike rate anyway. Funny how the mind works.
Red Kev
Guest
We should send them in to open in Hobart.
jamesb
Guest
Its actually three times this summer Starc has been involved in a substantial last wicket stand. Third test against SA with Lyon, Starc got 60 odd. Last Friday with Xavier, they past Australias lowest ODI total, and than yesterday where Starc got a 50 and had another stand with Xavier. Oh well, the way Australia bats, we might as well get used to seeing Starc and Doherty batting.
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
Why didn't the third umpire ask the on field umpires to reverse their decisions? Is he not allowed to?
Red Kev
Guest
That's the way things are now. Keep the same XI for the Hobart game and write off this series. For the West Indies 5-ODI series pick a squad of 13 (5 batsmen, 5 bowlers, 1 wicketkeeper and 2 allrounders that they want to trial) and play them in all five games (has the added bonus of getting Inverarity away from the cameras). Then the NSP need to sit down the six batsmen they take to India and say in no uncertain terms that you all have the entire series, no messing around (this means leaving Watson at home to see the birth of his child). The players will read between the lines and understand that Watson will be back for the Ashes. So there will be pressure but not immediate pressure. The team needs to settle down, play some good cricket.
Matt
Guest
He is the new Siddle. Siddle's average is only 25 or something, but he has got so many 40-60 it's ridiculous. When Australia are going well and he needs to just smash some around in the last couple overs, he usually gets out for 1-10. When Australia are in trouble, he often plays very well. In fact, wasn't Siddle the one in SA who saved Australia from 9/43 to get them to 70 or something? Just like Starc, after all the "batsmen" had failed, he came out and showed them how it was done.
Matt
Guest
I don't want to throw Khawaja around too much, just whoever is playing best and can be a rock. Too much pressure. Imagine you have tons of people saying "where the hell is he, he's the best, he will save us" for months and months. Then he goes into a game at 4/20. Do you think he's going to perform well, or feel like if he doesn't score 200 he'll be dropped for another two years?
Red Kev
Guest
So if the Hobart deck is green who wants to bet against Mitch Starc having to rescue the innings for the third match in a row?