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Two close encounters
After a one-sided opening game Australia and Sri Lanka were then engaged in two close encounters. The first of them was a thriller, a nail biter, the dream finish to a one-day battle. In the next game the pendulum swung from side to side and when it came to the pressure overs at the end, the Aussies barged past the home team to go ahead in the series.

Sri Lanka were clearly short of match preparation in the opening game. The players had been engaged in four day cricket. The one day formula is different. Even the experienced and top class players can and do get rusty. It was clear about the local side, their bodies weren't reacting spontaneously to the message sent by the brain.

Most of it came back quickly. Within 2 days their bodies were once again very much in tune. The vastly experienced skipper Marvan Atapattu and the even more experienced former skipper Sanath set the tone. But somewhere in the middle the runs dried up. A notable difference between the sides. More often than not the Australians do not surrender an advantage. They capitalize to the maximum.

The mistake the visitors made was experimenting with the opening pair. Neither Clarke who opened or Gilchrist who was relegated to number six contributed. Both were dismissed for zero. Yet they kept progressing towards the target at a steady pace.

Michael Bevan and Andrew Symonds are two big strong men and explosive batsmen. They are capable of hitting the cover off a cricket ball. When it comes to one day outbursts they respect no bowler. Chaminda Vaas with ball in hand was waiting to send down 6 deliveries and the 2 Aussie giants had just eight runs to get. A diminutive yet confident "David' against the mighty 'Goliath'!Bowling successfully at the death is a very skillful art. Not just that, an absolutely relaxed and focused mindset is essential. Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, Curtley Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, were bowlers who regularly pinned down batsmen with "bulls eye" accuracy. On that day Chaminda Vaas was as good as any of them. He tamed two of the best middle order strikers in the world. He grabbed the ball as a souvenir when the game ended and must now rest with the many such he proudly owns. It will be a memento with which he carved out an over of pace bowling in one-day cricket, which will never be forgotten by those who were fortunate to witness it.

Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, much talented players, are looking good facing the Australian attack. During the three instances when they were out in the middle they have been positive and batted attractively. Jayawardene's 80 (run out) in the third one dayer came at a very timely situation. He held the innings together and with the middle order contributing, Sri Lanka got themselves into a fighting position. Vaas struck early and for a while Atapattu's men were in the driving seat. Australia has a team with players who can perform in any situation. Skipper Ponting and Damien Martyn did just that.

The target was not too steep and so these two were able to pace their innings. Sri Lanka fought back in the middle overs, but Andrew Symonds got in their way. Symonds is a much improved all round cricketer. He is a man who comes good when the going gets tough. He is an effective cricketer and that is displayed thru his batting bowling and fielding. In short he is a performer. His performance took the game away from Sri Lanka. Yet the series promises more excitement and hopefully more close finishes.

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