Related Links : Commonwealth Bank Series : Aus Vs Ind Vs SL : Scorecard
Sri Lanka were no match to the Aussies in the 3rd ODI of the CB Series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Lankans lost the match by an embarrassingly huge margin of 128 runs.
The home side, who had batted first after winning the toss piled up a healthy total of 253 for 6 on a slow batting track and on a heavy outfield. This was after a solid opening start between Matthew Hayden (42 from 50 balls with 5 fours) and Adam Gilchrist, who made a slow 61 (from 81 balls with 3 fours and a six). Michael Clarke was the top scorer of the innings with an unbeaten 77 (from 86 balls with 2 fours and a six). James Hopes provided the quick runs towards the end with a cameo of 34 from 29. Vaas proved to be economical this time around with 2 for 34 in his 10 while Murali bowled 10 wicketless overs without conceding too many.
Sri Lanka in their were never in control as they never got any foundation from the top order. Nathan Bracken used the slowness in the pitch to good effect to come up with destructive figures of 5 for 47. Other bowlers supported him well to sustain the pressure on the Sri Lankan batting which had only one good score coming in from Kumar Sangakkara, who made 42 (from 41 balls with 7 fours). Mitchell Johnson was particularly impressive with mean figures of 1 for 9 in 5 overs which also included 3 maidens! Sri Lanka were bundled out for 125 in 31.3 overs. Nathan Bracken was declared as the Man of the Match.