Cricket: Australia reach semis after Sri Lankan rout

7.30am

CENTURION, South Africa - Australia stormed into the World Cup semi-finals on Friday as Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee swept Sri Lanka regally aside.

Ponting's run-a-ball 114 was the fulcrum of the world champions' mammoth 319 for five, a target the Sri Lankans never looked like reaching after slumping to 48 for four.

They were finally dimissed for 223 in the 48th over to lose the Super Six encounter by 96 runs.

On a black day for Sri Lanka, captain Sanath Jayasuriya suffered a badly bruised left forearm and a chipped left thumb, courtesy of strike bowler Brett Lee, and is a major doubt for Monday's clash with India.

Lee, despite some harsh treatment from Aravinda de Silva, closed with three wickets for 52.

Australia, unbeaten in seven games in the World Cup and in 13 matches in a row overall, now have 16 points and cannot be caught in the second round by either Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe.

Skipper Ricky Ponting said: "I thought we played their spinners pretty well. We tried to get among them and unsettle them."

Jayasuriya, happy at least not to have broken his forearm, responded: "You have to do well in the first two hours to have a chance of beating Australia but we didn't bowl well."

Sri Lanka, the 1996 champions, were strangely subdued in the field as Australia dominated from the start after winning the toss.

Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara was guilty of two glaring misses, Ponting the beneficiary on both occasions.

The Australian captain offered a stumping chance off Muttiah Muralitharan when he was on 16, Sangakkara wafting at the wicket but missing completely.

Sangakkara, extraordinarily, then repeated the same error to give Ponting another life on 35, this time Ponting fortunate to make his ground attempting a risky second run.

Ponting made the most of the reprieves, scoring his second 50 runs in just 30 balls as he raced to his hundred.

His innings was sprinkled with crisply timed drives and he was murderous on the bad ball, four times lifting the Sri Lankan bowlers for four emphatic sixes.

By the time he skied Dilhara Fernando to Sangakkara Australia were well on their way to 300, Ponting dismissed for 114 off 109 balls including eight further boundaries.

The early assault was led by Gilchrist who blazed his way to 99 before becoming the first batsman to be run out one short of a hundred in a World Cup.

A moment's hesitation over a second run cost Gilchrist his century, Chaminda Vaas swooping from deep square leg and throwing down the stumps with a direct hit.

Gilchrist had to depart after a sparkling 88-ball innings during which he entertained a healthy crowd with 14 fours and two sixes.

A measure of the fireworks served up by Ponting and Gilchrist was that Damien Martyn's fifty went almost unnoticed, Martyn bowled in the final over for 52 off 58 balls with one four.

Sri Lanka's testing run chase got off to the worst possible start in the second over when main dangerman Jayasuriya was struck on the left forearm by a Lee delivery traveling at over 150kmh.

The blow forced Jayasuriya from the field and with their captain went Sri Lanka's most realistic hope of an unlikely victory.

That was underlined in the tenth over when his in-form opening partner Marvan Atapattu crashed a catch straight back to Lee to depart for 16.

Lee then struck twice more, Mahela Jayawardene's miserable tournament continuing with a three-ball duck and Russel Arnold making just one, either side of the departure of Hashan Tillakaratne who was bowled by Glenn McGrath.

That left Sri Lanka on 48 for four with Jayasuriya unable to return. De Silva and Sangakkara added 52 for the fifth wicket but their defiance ended when Sangakkara (20) was run out by a superb piece of fielding by Brad Hogg, who hit the one stump he had to aim at.

De Silva, dropped on nought by Matthew Hayden, thrilled the crowd with some cavalier strokeplay before chipping a catch back to Hogg. His 92 runs came off 94 balls with nine fours and four sixes, but his innings was always going to be in a losing cause.

- REUTERS

AUSTRALIA-SRI LANKA SCOREBOARD:

Australia:

A Gilchrist run out 99

M Hayden c Tillakaratne b Muralitharan 22

R Ponting c Sangakkara b Fernando 114

D Martyn b Fernando 52

D Lehmann c de Silva b Fernando 10

I Harvey not out 5

M Bevan not out 1

Extras (lb4 w5 nb7) 16

Total (for five wickets, 50 overs) 319
Fall: 75 181 293 313 314

Did not bat: B Hogg, B Lee, A Bichel, G McGrath
Bowling: Vaas 8-0-59-0 (nb-2, w-1), Gunaratne 6-0-46-0, de Silva 5-0-36-0, Muralitharan 10-0-47-1 (b-1, w-1), Arnold 2-0-21-0 (w-1), Fernando 9-0-47-3 (w-1), Jayasuriya 10-0-59-0 (w-1)

Sri Lanka:

M Atapattu c & b Lee 16

S Jayasuriya retired hurt 1

H Tillakaratne b McGrath 21

M Jayawardene c Gilchrist b Lee 0

A de Silva c & b Hogg 92

R Arnold lbw b Lee 1

K Sangakkara run out 20

C Vaas lbw b Hogg 21

M Muralitharan c Lee b Lehmann 4

D Fernando lbw b McGrath 9

P Gunaratne not out 15

Extras (b6, lb8, w6, nb3) 23

Total (all out, 47.4 overs) 223

Fall: 42 46 47 48 100 144 149 203 223

Bowling: McGrath 9.4-1-25-2 (w-3), Lee 10-1-52-3 (nb-3,w-2), Harvey 7-0-29-0, Bichel 7-1-32-0 (w-1), Hogg 9-1-45-2, Lehmann 5-0-26-1

Result: Australia won by 96 runs.



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