Lasith Malinga

It was the day of the M’s in Melbourne as Malinga and Matthews scripted one of the greatest comebacks in ODI history to secure a miraculous 1 wicket victory in the 1^st ODI of the 3 match series. There was drama right up to the end when Malinga ran himself out with 1 run to get. But another M and old warhorse Muttiah Muralitharan kept his nerves and gave Sri Lanka an unbelievable victory after Mike Hussey’s unbeaten 71 gave Australia a reasonable target to defend.

Chasing 240 for victory, Sangakkara lit up the MCG, dominated by the Sri Lankan supporters, with some delightful strokes as he raced away to 49 of 46 balls. But he received no support from his fellow batsmen as the middle order fell like a pack of cards. Xavier Doherty had a dream start to his international career picking up 4 wickets as Sri Lanka crumbled to 107/8. With 133 more to get, Malinga threw caution to the winds trying to get after the bowling while Matthews was more sober as Sri Lanka nudged on to an improbable victory. Matthews, playing in the series only as a batsman, made an unbeaten 77 while Malinga scored his first ODI half century. With 1 run to get, Malinga took off for a nonexistent single and Steven Smith’s direct hit found him short of the crease. It wasn’t meant to be Australia’s day as No.11 Murali flicked Watson to the fine leg boundary to give Sri Lanka a nerve wrecking win.

It is easy to forget the contribution of Thisara Perera who had earlier in the day picked up 5 wickets. Clarke, leading the squad in the absence of Ponting, after winning the toss and electing to bat got Australia off to a brisk start. At 85/1, Perera removed Clarke, Haddin and the dangerous White in the space of 2 overs. Hussey and Marsh found the runs difficult to come by as the spinners Murali and Randhiv put the lid on the scoring. Perera came back into the attack and got the wickets of Marsh and Smith for his second 5 wicket haul in international cricket. However Hussey, facing questions about his place in the squad, stood tall and helped the Kangaroos pose a challenging total. Eventually this was not sufficient a total as Malinga and Matthews ensured that Australia remained winless since July.

Tags: Angelo Mathews, Australia, Cricket, Lasith Malinga, MCG, Melbourne, ODI Cricket, ODI Series