Adelaide: Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed a strokeful 106 as Sri Lanka spanked Australia by eight wickets to level the best-of-three tri-series finals 1-1 here on Tuesday.
Chasing Australia’s competitive 271 for six, built around skipper Michael Clarke’s 117 and David Warner’s 100, the islanders rode on a 179-run partnership for the opening wicket to overhaul the target with 34 balls to spare in what turned out to be a lop-sided contest.
Dilshan, who hit his 12th ODI century, and captain Mahela Jayawardene (80), rattled up the runs in just 27-odd overs which made the chase of 272 runs under lights easy.
The two produced the best batting partnership of the series and brought the Australians on to their knees, hitting boundaries at will and nearly always managing to strike in the gap.
The Australians were at a loss to stem the flow of runs and none of their bowlers, including otherwise efficient left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, could bowl with economy.
The chase began good enough with Brett Lee conceding 12 runs in his first over but then there was a slice of luck in the second over when Jayawardene was caught behind for one, only for television reviews to reveal that the bowler Clint McKay had overstepped the bowling crease.
This was as close as Australians could have a sniff of a wicket for a long time as the two batsmen went after the bowlers, raising the first 50 off only 37 balls and bringing about the 100 in the 16th over.
The third final will be played at the same venue on Thursday.
Dilshan was the first one to reach his fifty off 56 balls with five fours. (PTI)
