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Australia 170 (Haddin 50, Malinga 3-32) v Sri Lanka
Angelo Mathews formed part of a tight Sri Lankan bowling unit at Adelaide Oval © Getty Images
Australian frailty against the seaming ball was laid bare by a highly disciplined Sri Lankan bowling ensemble and a tacky Adelaide Oval pitch as the hosts cobbled a measly 170 in the second ODI.
Sent in to bat after the start was delayed by morning rain, the hosts were unsure of themselves on a pitch more helpful to seamers than Melbourne had been, a series of batsmen defeated by deliveries that moved a tad or held up in the surface.
Sri Lanka's bowlers shared the wickets, with particular praise due to Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews, who took the new balls and set Australia on the defensive by moving the ball just enough through the air and off the seam, while keeping the runs down. Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera then followed up with wickets of their own. Named in place of the injured Dinesh Chandimal, the debut gloveman Kushal Perera kept wicket neatly and held four catches.
Brad Haddin was the only one of Australia's recognised batsmen to resist for any protracted period, constructing a patient 50 that at least gave the bowlers something to aim at. Ben Cutting supported Haddin with a useful 27, while Clint McKay's attempt to do likewise was ended by a bizarre decision review.
The first indication that Australia were not at their sharpest came in the opening over when Aaron Finch clipped the ball straight to square leg and set off for a single - Phillip Hughes would have been out by yards had the ball found stumps or wicketkeeper. Fortunate there, Finch was to be out for his second low score in as many matches and again fell to a tentative stroke, pushing Mathews to short cover after he had nudged Ajantha Mendis into the wicketkeeper's gloves at the MCG.
Hughes struggled to find the fluency he had managed while making a century on debut, and was pinned in front of the stumps by Kulasekara, wasting Australia's only review on a ball that pitched in line and would have taken middle and off. David Hussey and George Bailey briefly steadied the innings in a stand of 39, but the stand-in captain's fortunate stay, punctuated by numerous edges, was ended when he pulled Lasith Malinga to midwicket where Lahiru Thirmanne held a decent catch.
Steve Smith, brought in for Usman Khawaja, hinted at fluency during his brief stay but drove loosely at a Perera delivery that seamed back into him and was taken behind. To this point Hussey had looked the most composed of the batsmen, but his run out in another mix-up and a neat leg cutter to remove Glenn Maxwell, put Australia in deep trouble.
Cutting and Haddin resisted for 15 overs and 57 runs, the former showing glimpses of the batting skill he had demonstrated for Queensland over the past two summers. Eventually Malinga's pace and unique angle drew an edge from Cutting, and next ball his fellow debutant Kane Richardson was flummoxed by a dipping slower ball and LBW.
McKay averted the hat-trick but then fell victim to a decision overturned for reasons known only to the third umpire Richard Kettleborough, for replays showed no solid evidence of an edge behind from Perera's bowling, and HotSpot was no more revealing.
The last man Xavier Doherty's arrival moved Haddin to swing a mighty six into the Members Stand, but picked out midwicket when trying to repeat the shot from Mendis, leaving the hosts with a sorry total.
Angelo Mathews formed part of a tight Sri Lankan bowling unit at Adelaide Oval © Getty Images
Australian frailty against the seaming ball was laid bare by a highly disciplined Sri Lankan bowling ensemble and a tacky Adelaide Oval pitch as the hosts cobbled a measly 170 in the second ODI.
Sent in to bat after the start was delayed by morning rain, the hosts were unsure of themselves on a pitch more helpful to seamers than Melbourne had been, a series of batsmen defeated by deliveries that moved a tad or held up in the surface.
Sri Lanka's bowlers shared the wickets, with particular praise due to Nuwan Kulasekara and Angelo Mathews, who took the new balls and set Australia on the defensive by moving the ball just enough through the air and off the seam, while keeping the runs down. Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera then followed up with wickets of their own. Named in place of the injured Dinesh Chandimal, the debut gloveman Kushal Perera kept wicket neatly and held four catches.
Brad Haddin was the only one of Australia's recognised batsmen to resist for any protracted period, constructing a patient 50 that at least gave the bowlers something to aim at. Ben Cutting supported Haddin with a useful 27, while Clint McKay's attempt to do likewise was ended by a bizarre decision review.
The first indication that Australia were not at their sharpest came in the opening over when Aaron Finch clipped the ball straight to square leg and set off for a single - Phillip Hughes would have been out by yards had the ball found stumps or wicketkeeper. Fortunate there, Finch was to be out for his second low score in as many matches and again fell to a tentative stroke, pushing Mathews to short cover after he had nudged Ajantha Mendis into the wicketkeeper's gloves at the MCG.
Hughes struggled to find the fluency he had managed while making a century on debut, and was pinned in front of the stumps by Kulasekara, wasting Australia's only review on a ball that pitched in line and would have taken middle and off. David Hussey and George Bailey briefly steadied the innings in a stand of 39, but the stand-in captain's fortunate stay, punctuated by numerous edges, was ended when he pulled Lasith Malinga to midwicket where Lahiru Thirmanne held a decent catch.
Steve Smith, brought in for Usman Khawaja, hinted at fluency during his brief stay but drove loosely at a Perera delivery that seamed back into him and was taken behind. To this point Hussey had looked the most composed of the batsmen, but his run out in another mix-up and a neat leg cutter to remove Glenn Maxwell, put Australia in deep trouble.
Cutting and Haddin resisted for 15 overs and 57 runs, the former showing glimpses of the batting skill he had demonstrated for Queensland over the past two summers. Eventually Malinga's pace and unique angle drew an edge from Cutting, and next ball his fellow debutant Kane Richardson was flummoxed by a dipping slower ball and LBW.
McKay averted the hat-trick but then fell victim to a decision overturned for reasons known only to the third umpire Richard Kettleborough, for replays showed no solid evidence of an edge behind from Perera's bowling, and HotSpot was no more revealing.
The last man Xavier Doherty's arrival moved Haddin to swing a mighty six into the Members Stand, but picked out midwicket when trying to repeat the shot from Mendis, leaving the hosts with a sorry total.