Lankans thrash Aussies

Mathew­s, Maling­a stage stunni­ng comeba­ck with record 132 runs for the ninth wicket­.

MELBOURNE: Sri Lanka conjured a one-wicket victory over Australia in the opening One-Day International (ODI), powered by a ninth wicket partnership between Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga.

Looking dead at 107 for eight and chasing Australia’s 239 for eight, Sri Lankans roared home on the back of a 132-run stand from man-of-the-match Mathews and Malinga.

Mathews remained unconquered, while Malinga clobbered his highest ODI score of 56 off 48 balls.“What a performance, we had to fight for every run,” said captain Kumar Sangakkara. “Mathews has been our greatest asset this year. He’s won us Twenty20s and ODIs, he’s a champion.”

Malinga was run out with the scores tied and it was left to Muttiah Muralitharan to hit the winning runs for Sri Lanka.

Australian captain Michael Clarke said, “I’m very disappointed, asking myself a lot of questions of what I could have done better, if I could have bowled someone at a different time.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2010.