Australia romp home

Adam Gilchrist congratulates Nathan Bracken on one of his four wickets © Getty Images

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Australia cruised to their 20th successive World Cup win at the expense of an under-strength Sri Lanka to make almost certain of topping the Super Eight table.

Sri Lanka’s stop-start 226 all out proved inadequate - Nathan Bracken taking 4-19 - as Ricky Ponting hit 66 not out to lead his team home in an unbroken century stand alongside Andrew Symonds (63 not out), with seven wickets and more than seven overs to spare.

This match between two teams already through to the semi-finals was always likely to be a phoney war in Grenada.

So it proved as Sri Lanka rested two lynchpin bowlers in Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas - with another, Lasith Malinga, still recovering from sore ankle ligaments - and a better-staffed Australia duly upheld the form book.

Sri Lanka chose to bat first but twice lost a clutch of untimely wickets.

Either side of a 140-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene (72) and Chamara Silva (64), three fell for one run and then five more for just 17.

The upshot was a total which owed almost all its substance to the fourth-wicket pair, who nonetheless failed to finish the job.

Mahela Jayawardene leads the Sri Lanka recovery with a brilliant 72 © Getty Images

Sri Lanka slipped from 26 without to 27 for three in the space of 13 balls - before the captain and Silva stopped the rot and re-established the momentum so impressively.

Openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga began promisingly but then came Sri Lanka’s first calamitous passage of play.

Jayasuriya played across the line to Bracken to go lbw, and first change Glenn McGrath struck with only his third delivery.

Kumar Sangakkara was perhaps a little unfortunate to depart lbw for a duck, with the ball seemingly a touch high, but there was no doubt about Tharanga’s departure in the next over, edging low to second slip where Matthew Hayden kept his cool to collect with Ricky Ponting diving in front of him.

Jayawardene and Silva therefore came together on nought, and there was not a run off the bat for more than four overs until the latter off-drove McGrath for four to get off the mark from the 12th ball he faced.

Initial caution was necessary, but the re-introduction of Tait allowed the resumption of an acceptable run-rate.

A combination of back-up seam and spin had no joy for 31 overs as Jayawardene, in particular, played beautifully, a collection of resounding pulls culminating in the six off Tait which brought up the century stand - and his own 64-ball fifty.

Sri Lanka had to lower their sights again, though, when Silva and his captain went in successive Hogg overs.

Ricky Ponting takes Australia to victory with seven overs remaining © Getty Images

The left-arm wrist-spinner had Silva mis-sweeping into the hands of short fine-leg and then deceived Jayawardene with a special piece of bowling, a perfectly-pitched googly which turned enough to beat a bat angled towards leg and have its victim toppling over and neatly stumped by Adam Gilchrist.

The remaining wickets in a desultory last 10 overs were less memorable but prevented Sri Lanka’s innings from realising its potential, despite a handy ninth-wicket stand of 34 between Malinga Bandara and Farveez Maharoof.

It was quickly put into perspective too as Australia openers Hayden and Gilchrist raced to 76 in just 12 overs.

The two left-handers went within three runs of one another, though, to the part-time off-spin of Russel Arnold. Hayden chipped a catch to mid-wicket and Gilchrist was lbw pushing forward.

Ponting and Michael Clarke had to start again but kept their team ahead of the game until the number four fell to Malinga Bandara’s leg-spin, driving a low catch to extra-cover.

Ponting and Symonds were almost entirely untroubled thereafter, however, to close out the match quickly and leave their travel manager at liberty to confirm flights for a St Lucia semi-final next week - against a fourth-placed team which is highly unlikely to be Sri Lanka.