Legends of Sports

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.

David Hussey ensured India found itself in yet another strange controversy, as Cricket Australia last night avoided the view of having to stage an embarrassing finals series minus the home team. Capably led in the field by Shane Watson in his debut game as captain after three months on the sidelines, Australia's resounding 87-run bonus-point victory booked the hosts a berth in the finals and left the Indians with a nasty taste in their mouths approaching the end of a frightening tour.

M. S. Dhoni's men will tomorrow night pack their bags for home if they cannot collect a bonus point against Sri Lanka in Hobart, which could also double up as Sachin Tendulkar's last chance to post his 100th international century, in Australia. Tendulkar was run out for five after being unintentionally vulnerable by Brett Lee chasing a single. He lost momentum as he tried to avoid Lee, who did not appear to be aware of the batsman's presence, and was caught short by a direct hit from David Warner.

''It was a bit unjustified for Sachin because he had to take the extra yards,'' Dhoni said. Umpires had earlier enraged the Indian team by not giving Hussey out for handling the ball after he used a glove to knock away a throw from Suresh Raina while pursuing a single.

Australia without Ponting, Sri Lanka have recognized a strong run of performance to leap from the basement to the top of the triangular series standings. Both sides have enjoyed relaxed victories over a faltering India. Australia's dressing room will be very different without Ponting, and the difference will be magnified by the return of Shane Watson as vice-captain.

It is not yet clear whether Watson will make his return to the playing XI in Hobart, but his existence among the team is significant regardless. Watson and Michael Clarke were the anointed leadership duo to replace Ponting in 2011, and must now renew their relationship. On the field, the hosts showed a renewed level of energy and focus in Brisbane on Sunday, and will need to intensify that effort against Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's regeneration has followed a sturdy up curve across the series. Close to gaining results in the first three matches, Mahela Jayawardene's men have added confidence to the discipline by winning the next two. Farveez Maharoof and Lahiru Thirimanne have provided plenty of vim to the team, while Thisara Perera and Angelo Mathews have also established the skills that can offer the team a bright future in coming years. Consistency remains the challenge ahead for a team that has not made a habit of winning too many matches on end in recent times.

MS Dhoni has been suspended for one ODI and India fined for the team's second over-rate breach in ODIs in less than a year. India were found to be two overs short during their 110-run defeat against Australia in Brisbane, after time allowances were taken into thought. Match referee Andy Pycroft also fined Dhoni 40% of his match fee and the team's other players were fined 20% each.

This was India's second over-rate breach this tour. Dhoni was suspended from the Adelaide Test earlier this year for a slow over-rate in the previous game in Perth, where India had gone in with four fast bowlers. Today, at the Gabba, the visitors played four seamers again. Ravindra Jadeja's left-arm spin was not employed in the game, prompted, as Dhoni said, by the existence of several left-handers in the Australian side, though it could have better the over-rate if used.

The latest suspension is a consequence of two over-rate offences in ODIs within a year- the first one being during the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai. The grounds for the decision to take such an action against any guilty captain were laid at the ICC's annual conference in Hong Kong last year where harsher penalties were called for against teams weakening to meet their over-rate targets.

Dhoni was suspended for slow over-rates more than years ago as well. He had to sit out of two ODIs during a home series against Sri Lanka, as a result of which Virender Sehwag had to take over. India will now take on Sri Lanka on February 21 without Dhoni, their most constant batsman this series with scores of 44*, 58* and 56 in his last three appearances.

Sri Lanka might view their tie with India as a missed chance, but it at least put them on the board in the Commonwealth Bank Series. All the same, they need a win soon or risk leaving their run for the finals too late. And to have the best chance of success, they need runs out of their senior batsmen; none of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga has scored a half-century so far in this competition.

The SCG might give them some hope, for they have won five of their past seven one-day internationals there, including three victories over Australia. In the past decade, it has been happily their best ground in Australia. For the Australians, this match is something of a flashback: Ricky Ponting will captain the side for the first time since he quit the leadership after last year's World Cup.

Australia hope it will be a one-off, and that Michael Clarke's hamstring injury will allow him to play the next game on Sunday. Ponting's appointment has caused some debate; with the nominal vice-captain David Warner not considered experienced enough to lead the side. Captaincy apart, Australia can regain their lead on the series table if they win this match, but a loss would make the second half of the contest a much closer proposition.

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Sri Lanka batted first at the Adelaide Oval and made a competitive 236 for nine, built around Dinesh Chandimal's 81, and India were always right on the rate. A nervy finish saw the stability shift one way then another before Dhoni (58 not out) and Umesh Yadav scampered three off the final ball to leave the scores level. Sri Lanka made a terrible start as Upul Tharanga edged the second ball of the match from Vinay Kumar to Dhoni, and it was 28 for two when his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan departed for 16.

Chandimal and Kumar Sangakkara put on 51 before the latter, having made a patient 31, miscalculate a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery and distended a catch to Gautam Gambhir at point. Chandimal reached a well-judged half-century from 56 balls, slog-sweeping Ravindra Jadeja for four before edging three from the next ball. Captain Mahela Jayawardene looked to be moving through the gears fluently until he played around a straight ball from Vinay Kumar to depart lbw for 43 from 49 balls.

Irfan Pathan hit a Mathews no-ball for six but was run out next ball. But Dhoni whipped a four to bring up his 50 and then kept the strike with nine needed from the last over. Star Sri Lanka paceman Lasith Malinga, at the stumps, missed two run-out chances before Mathews accounted for Vinay Kumar with a direct hit, leaving Dhoni needing a boundary from the last ball. His slap over cover was crucially stopped by a diving Tharanga but the batsmen twisted for three to tie.

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Sri Lanka did that notably in the 1996 and 2007 World Cups. They beat India in the Asia Cup in 2008. They knocked India out of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies in 2010. At some time, though, the two teams' management became too friendly, and started making the teams play against each other every other day. The sting was taken out of the contest, and skill bred some insipidness. That India has been dominating their neighbours of late would be an apt assessment.

Sri Lanka wants that edge against India back, especially in matches outside India. A day before their second game in the triangular against India, Kumar Sangakkara said India were vulnerable when playing them in neutral venues. "Our strength has always been playing India away from India," Sangakkara said. "India is always strong in India, with the smaller grounds and conditions they are used to. But away from home we have always done very well against them."

That may be true in neutral venues in Asia, where Sri Lanka have a 7-2 win-loss record against India since 1999, but outside Asia India have thoroughly dominated: they hold an 8-1 advantage in that period, with their only defeat coming in a rain-reduced game in Canberra in 2008. For that record to improve, Sri Lanka will have to start batting better. Their bowlers and fielders did an astral job in Perth against Australia, but the batsmen messed up a chase of 232.

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MS Dhoni revived his World Cup heroics to belt India to victory in Adelaide last night. India needed 13 off the last over then 12 from four balls but Dhoni spanked Clint McKay (3/53) out of Adelaide Oval from the third ball to relieve the pressure. Dhoni was then caught off a no-ball on the boundary McKay but hurry through from two and then elegant off the total next ball to deliver an unforgettable four wicket victory with two balls remaining. India finished 6/270 with Dhoni undefeated on 44 from 58 balls and Ravi Ashwin on 1.

Left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty (2/51) had put the brakes on India in the penultimate over luring out Jadeja (12) and conceding just four runs. Australia tinkered with its winning formula and flopped while Sachin Tendulkar's rest proved a blessing in disguise as India lastly ended injury-hit Michael Clarke's golden run in Adelaide.

However turning its back on cricket's electronic eye almost cost India a breakthrough victory against Clarke this summer and first one-day win against Australia in Adelaide with top scorer Gautam Gambhir (92) fired out to lbw shocker in favour of clutch seamer Clint McKay. Rohit Sharma (33) departed to a wanton shot just as India had sidelined Australia in the contest after putting on 76 with Gambhir.

Angelo Mathews narrowly failed to deliver victory to Sri Lanka at the WACA, where Australia held on by five runs in an exciting finish. Sri Lanka needed 18 from the final over bowled by Mitchell Starc, and Mathews gave them every chance by pulling the first ball for four and driving the next delivery over long-off for six, before a pair of singles left the visitors needing six from two balls.

But Mathews skied the next delivery to long-on, where Daniel Christian held his nerve to take the catch, ensuring Australia remains unbeaten in the Commonwealth Bank Series. And while Australia did, for the most part, bowl and field well, they could consider themselves fortunate to have escaped with victory after posting what appeared a sub-par total, of 231, with Michael Clarke (57) the only man to score a half-century.

Sri Lanka was on track in the chase before a middle-order collapse left too much to Mathews and the tail. That Mathews nearly got them home was remarkable, as was his 46-run tenth-wicket stand with Dhammika Prasad, but his dismissal for 64 should at least mean the rest of the batting order is held accountable for a unsatisfactory effort that undid the fine work of the bowlers.

The Australia bowlers were also impressive. Xavier Doherty was the standout with a miserly 2 for 24 from his ten overs but there were other positives from the hosts in the field. Starc hooped the new ball and claimed an early wicket, Christian picked up two victims to add to his handy 33 with the bat, Clint McKay finished a terrific run-out from side-on and Matthew Wade enhanced his standing with a stumping and a wonderful diving catch.

After their bowlers had done a great job in restrict the opposition, India were cruising at 157 for 3, needing another 77 runs with both Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina looking good. However, suddenly, the batsmen lost their way slipping to 181 for 6 before Ashwin (30 not out) and Jadeja (24 not out) put up a fighting 53-run stand for the seventh wicket to steer the side home. Ashwin, who also took 3 for 32, was named the Man-of-the-Match. Sachin Tendulkar played some pleasing shots in scoring 48 (63 balls, 5x4) before he drag a ball from Angelo Matthews onto his stumps.

Virat Kohli (77; 94b, 8x4,1x6) batted with a lot of confidence and looked in complete command of the situation. However, towards the final stages of his innings, he was hobbling on one leg due to cramps. He still had sufficient strength to smash pacer Dhammika Prasad for a straight six, but he went for a tight single off the last ball to retain strike and that proved to be his undoing as Lasith Malinga threw down the stumps from mid-on.

Earlier, the Indian bowlers redeemed themselves on a WACA pitch that offered them decent bounce. Zaheer Khan made the batsmen dance to his tunes bowling a tight line and moving the ball both ways. The left-arm pacer made early inroads into Sri Lanka's batting before R Ashwin sliced through the middle-order. Together, both Zaheer (2-44) and Ashwin (3-32) cleaned up the top half of the Sri Lankan batting with their combined figures reading 20-2-76-5.

Over 10 months have passed since that Wankhede night, last April. Within that period, the fates of the two teams that brought the best out of each other in that memorable World Cup final have nose-dived in bizarre style. India has been ruthlessly stripped of their No. 1 Test ranking, the sunset on their golden generation of batsmen moves along by eight successive away drubbings

Sri Lanka has had it worse. Finishing second-best in two successive World Cup finals is a tragedy in itself, but even that pales in comparison to what has transpired since. They have endured series after wretched series, home and away, against Australia, Pakistan and South Africa, with no silverware to show for their efforts except in the Twenty20 format. Their players haven't been paid by a board that is now bankrupt.

Both teams are worried for the familiarity of better times, and their first encounter since Wankhede will provide them just that. No two sides have played each other more often in ODI history, particularly in recent years - 34 of their 129 clashes came between 2008 and 2010. This series kicks off another glut of games between these thick foes, with the Asia Cup and a bilateral series in Sri Lanka to follow in quick succession. Establishing early domination in Australia could prove essential in determining which side heals better in the coming months.

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Ben Hilfenhaus, the leading wicket-taker in Australia's Test series victory over India, has been recalled to the national ODI squad to replace the injured Brett Lee - his first limited overs duty in more than two years. The national selector John Inverarity and his panel chose an experienced name to cover for Lee rather than picking another youthful pace bowler, affording Hilfenhaus the chance to play his first 50-over internationals since a tour of India in late 2009.

On that tour Hilfenhaus suffered from knee tendinitis that would then keep him out of international cricket for most of the 2009-10 seasons, and had been employed fully in Test matches since. While naming Hilfenhaus, Inverarity suggested the XI for the Perth match against Sri Lanka on Friday was likely to be unchanged from the one that defeated India in Melbourne. However Hilfenhaus can expect to play in the third match, against India in Adelaide on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.

"The NSP has named Ben Hilfenhaus in the squad for the game against Sri Lanka in Perth on Friday," Inverarity said. "Ben will replace the injured Brett Lee. The bowling attack for Perth is likely to be the same as the one that did so well in Melbourne and Ben will be in Perth to provide cover." Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle have been resting in reserve since the conclusion of the Test series, which reaped 27 wickets at 17.22 for the Tasmanian after he was recalled for the Boxing Day Test.

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Victorian fast bowler James Pattinson is targeting a return to the Australia side during this month's Commonwealth Bank Series. Pattinson announced himself as a star of the future earlier this summer with 25 Test wickets in four matches at 18.12 but has had to sit out the final two matches against India after scans showed he was developing the early stage of a stress fracture in his left foot. The 21-year-old said the injury had healed quicker than predicted.

"The recovery is going really well at the moment. I am about three weeks away from coming back," Pattinson told."I've had no pain in my foot since I've got back. The first couple of days it was a bit tender and sore but now it's fine. I haven't felt it for almost two and a half weeks."I am back running and doing some bowling so confidently I will be back about halfway through the one-day series. "Hopefully we get into the finals and I will be right for them."

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Tillakaratne Dilshan resigned as Sri Lanka captain from all three formats; the country's new selection panel selected former captain Mahela Jayawardene in his place to lead the ODI squad to Australia for the tri-series in February concerning the hosts and India. Angelo Mathews remains the vice-captain of the 15-member squad which also includes Dilshan.

Jayawardene was ODI captain from 2004 till 2009. He resigned in 2009, saying he wanted his successor to have enough time to build the team for the 2011 World Cup. Kumar Sangakkara took over from Jayawardene but stepped down after leading Sri Lanka to the final of the World Cup. Dilshan led Sri Lanka for nine months after the World Cup, but resigned on Monday following series defeats in both Tests and ODIs in all his four assignments.

Jayawardene has led Sri Lanka in 97 ODIs, winning 57 and losing 35. Farveez Maharoof, the bowling allrounder, and Chanaka Welegedara, the fast bowler, were recalled after having last played an ODI for Sri Lanka back in June 2010. The duo was the only changes from the squad for the recent ODI series in South Africa, in place of Kosala Kulasekara and Dilhara Fernando.

ODI squad

Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Lahiru Thirimanne, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Nuwan Kulasekera, Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad

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