Gilchrist And Australia Blast Back To The Top

The Age

Monday January 30, 2006

By ALEX BROWN, PERTH

AFTER a fortnight of whispers and debate over their worthiness atop the order, Adam Gilchrist and Simon Katich combined for the third-highest Australian opening stand to all but guarantee the home side a place in the one-day series finals.

Gilchrist's 13th one-day century will live long in the memory of the 20,085 fans at the WACA Ground yesterday, highlighted by four towering sixes and a post-century celebration that involved a 50-metre sprint past the infield circle.

Katich, though more watchful, proved similarly effective in Australia's six-wicket victory over the Sri Lankans, registering his highest one-day international score and topping Australia's run scorers for this series.

Their 191-run partnership will almost certainly ensure that Phil Jaques, who yesterday watched his club from the Caringbah Oval grandstands in Sydney, will be spectating for a while yet, despite his own sensational run of form.

Chasing a moderate target, Gilchrist (116 from 105 deliveries) signalled his intentions early, slamming veteran paceman Chaminda Vaas for a straight six, hammering the alleged super-sub Akalanka Ganegama for 20 runs off one over and dispatching Muthiah Muralidaran over the mid-wicket fence.

He finished with 10 boundaries and four sixes; his recent slump of 24 runs from five innings suddenly seemed all but a distant memory against the backdrop of this most breathtaking of innings. Surely, he is now the poster child for Australia's controversial "resting" policy.

Katich was fortunate to survive three chances, but nonetheless stood defiant to score 82 - his third half-century of the series and fifth from 10 innings as Australia's one-day opener. A compelling case for retention, if ever there was one.

By the time Gilchrist and Katich were eventually dismissed, an Australian victory was assured. Brad Hodge and Andrew Symonds were the only other wickets to fall in the late overs, as Damien Martyn and Michael Clarke guided Australia past Sri Lanka's modest total of 8-233.

Australia's strong start was in stark contrast to Sri Lanka's poor effort. Without a victory over Australia in six previous encounters at the WACA Ground - the hard, bouncy conditions in Perth unlike anything on offer on the subcontinent - the visitors quickly slumped to 3-27 in the face of Brett Lee's hostile opening spell. Having lost captain Marvan Atapattu to a back injury before play, Sanath Jayasuriya - the hero of the SCG a week ago - was dismissed without scoring, edging Lee to Gilchrist.

The Sri Lankans then lost Kumar Sangakkara and Jehan Mubarak before their total had reached 30 - Sangakkara the victim of a brilliant Symonds run-out and Mubarak holing out to Brad Hodge off the bowling of Clark.

At that point, the Sri Lankans appeared on the verge of a disastrous collapse. Sangakkara had been struck in the midriff and the helmet by Lee - and been met with an intimidating glare each time. Glenn McGrath, too, was bowling with the extra pace that had been lacking in this series and constantly troubled the Sri Lankan batsmen.

But just when all seemed lost for the tourists, Mahela Jayawardene (69 off 92) and Russel Arnold (56 off 87) combined for a determined, if not dashing partnership of 121. Some desperate late-order hitting allowed the Sri Lankans to post a reasonably competitive total of 8-233.

The Australians, though, always fancied their chances of reining in the target, having hauled in a similar total against Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval on Australia Day.

For the home side, Clark and Lee proved the pick of the bowlers, while McGrath continued his relatively barren summer. The veteran right-armer, despite bowling faster than in recent matches, went wicketless for the second time in the series, again raising questions as to whether he is past his peak.

At least the effort of Clark - touted as a McGrath clone - was promising.

© 2006 The Age

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