The winner of the Commonwealth Bank Series is yet to be heralded with Sri Lanka
scoring a fighting comeback to level the best-of-three finals. The decider, to
be played in Adelaide on Thursday, will draw curtain on a truly spectacular Australian
summer that saw the comeback of the traditional triangular series as well.
Click for Live Score Card of Australia Vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's recovery and upsurge during the course of the tournament has been
nothing short of a fable to say the least. They made yet another astounding comeback
to win the second final by eight wickets with more than five overs remaining.
Tillakaratne Dilshan was the star of the show, scoring his second consecutive
century. Having given up captaincy, Dilshan is currently enjoying a rich run
of form being the highest run-scorer in the series. His role will be pivotal
in the decider as well, together with Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara's
consistency.
The bowlers, barring Farveez Maharoof, looked good and will be raring
to keep the good show going. One area where Sri Lanka will need to improve drastically
is their fielding after a torrid show that saw them drop no less than four catches.
Australia would have felt comfortable at the innings interval with their
271-6 built around captain Michael Clarke and opener David Warner's centuries.
But, as Clarke pointed out prior to the match, the bowlers let them down once
again as Sri Lanka were able to stay ahead of the run rate with ease.
He will need a vastly improved showing from all his bowlers to pose a strong
challenge at the trophy. At times the attack looks one-dimensional with the
likes of Brett Lee, Clint McKay and James Pattinson looking to outdo
the opposition batsmen with pace. Some variation in spells may work for Clarke.
The match will be played at the Adelaide Oval following Sri Lanka's comeback performance
at the same venue.
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