Australia are a match away from sealing a dramatic and entertaining triangular series, but it is all too apparent that Michael Clarke's team is amazing towards the finish line. To wrap up the finals 2-0 the hosts will have to win two in a row for the first time since games one and two of the series, and do so on an Adelaide surface far more agreeable to Sri Lanka than Brisbane's was supposed to have been. Mahela Jayawardene's Sri Lankan team, meanwhile, carries bounty of momentum from the Gabba, not least in terms of the fight shown by a lower order.
Clarke's concerns entering the second final revolve mainly around his bowling, which lurched into unruliness as Nuwan Kulasekara and others provided an unexpected fright. It was not the first time the home attack had been broken in the later overs this series, something Clarke was at pains to address in the aftermath of the match, when he spoke less as a victor than as a leader wary of how his men are flagging. Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson were mainly loose, and only Shane Watson looked completely in command of his length and direction.
David Warner's fitness is also a problem following his match-shaping 163, and will likely force a change in the batting order. While Sri Lanka's attack looked powerless at times on a flat surface in Brisbane, they can expect a little more help in Adelaide, on a pitch that may slow up and turn in the evening. Most pressing among Jayawardene's requirements will be that one or more of his team's vaunted top order provides a more valuable contribution than they managed at the Gabba.
Clarke's concerns entering the second final revolve mainly around his bowling, which lurched into unruliness as Nuwan Kulasekara and others provided an unexpected fright. It was not the first time the home attack had been broken in the later overs this series, something Clarke was at pains to address in the aftermath of the match, when he spoke less as a victor than as a leader wary of how his men are flagging. Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson were mainly loose, and only Shane Watson looked completely in command of his length and direction.
David Warner's fitness is also a problem following his match-shaping 163, and will likely force a change in the batting order. While Sri Lanka's attack looked powerless at times on a flat surface in Brisbane, they can expect a little more help in Adelaide, on a pitch that may slow up and turn in the evening. Most pressing among Jayawardene's requirements will be that one or more of his team's vaunted top order provides a more valuable contribution than they managed at the Gabba.
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