Venue: The WACA
Event : 6th ODI CB series, SL vs Aus
Result: ‘All Gilly’ day at the WACA
Chants of ‘Gilly’, ‘Gilly’ ripped through the air. Gilchrist struck Muralitharan to mid on and scampered for a single. That’s when Gilchrist went cock-a-hoop. His final sculpture at the WACA left his fans spell bound and an emotional Gilchrist bid adieu to his home town in style. His final ton at his own backyard sealed the fate of the game. Australia won with ease and gave Adam a fitting farewell.
Srilanka chasing a gettable 237 was on to a flier. In just 3 overs they were close to the 30 run mark. But soon Jayasuriya charged Bracken only to gift a catch to third man. Then Johnson castled Dilshan with an unplayable Yorker. Skipper Jayawardene held around for a while before he edged Johnson to Ponting for 21. In 11 overs the Lankans had made a brisk start of 71 but lost 3 key players. That hurt them most. Sangakkara was fluent at one end but there was no one to give him support. This has been the sorry state of the Lankan middle order for sometime now.
Carrying on from where the Oz keeper left, Sangakkara drove and cut with flair and played with a straight bat. He made almost half of the Srilankan total at the end which speaks in length about the Lankans batting debacle. The match sprung up another controversy. Andrew Symonds dived to his left to pouch a catch off Chamara Silva’s bat. But replays show that he grounded it. The Australian’s integrity has come under the scanner yet again.
Earlier in the day, it was all Gilchrist. Playing his final match at his hometown Gilly set himself up for a fairytale farewell after Hayden departed soon. But it wasn’t all Smash and bang. It was a patient innings which had it’s moments of brilliance-a workman like innings from Adam. By the time he departed from the ground amidst more chants of ‘Gilly’ he had creamed 3 sixes entertaining his fans who had come in masses to see the slaughterer at work for one last time. Apart from Gilchrist only Clarke was able to make an impression with the bat. Malinga bowled with pace and zest to scalp 4 wickets. From a position of strength at 177 for 3 off 36 overs Australia was scuttled out for 236 thanks to some disciplined bowling.
Gilchrist took the honours of the day being awarded the Man of the match. Come on Gilly! Why did you decide to retire so soon? - An immense loss for cricket indeed.
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