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Sri Lanka in Australia 2004
A guide to what they were playing for:
AUS win 2  -  0  AUS gains 7 points; SL loses 7 points
Draw      1 -   1  SL gains 8 points;   AUS loses 8 points
SL   win  2  -  0  SL gains 23 points; AUS loses 23 points
First Test 
Darwin
01 - 03 July 2004

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.� Australia made a steady start , but shortly before lunch, Langer (30) and Elliott (1) were out in consecutive overs.� At lunch, Australia was 2 for 75.� Australia lost hayden (37) soon after play resumed at 3 for 80 before the middle order started rebuilding the innings.� However, on the stroke of tea, Martyn (47) was out at 4 for 177.� Sri Lanka carried their momentum into the evening session and quickly dismissed Lehmann (57) and Gilchrist (0) to have Australia in trouble at 6 for 189.� A needless run out later saw Warne (2) out at 7 for 201 followed by Katich (9), and then Gillespie (4) and McGrath (0) in consecutive balls.� Australia was all out for 207from 71 overs with Vaas the best of the bowlers with 5 for 31 from 18.3 overs. 4)4 reply, Sri Lanka lost Atapattu (4), Sangakkara (2) and Jayasuriya (8) to be 3 for 33.� By stumps, Sri Lanka had crept along to 3 for 43.

Australia struck in the second over on the second morning and dismissed Jayawardene (8).� Soon after, Samaraweera (1), Zoysa (12) and Arnold (6) returned to the pavilion as Sri Lanka slumped further to 7 for 59, having lost 4 for 16.�� After a short period consolidation, Chandana (14), Vaas (5) and Malinga (0) were out, leaving top scorer Dilshan not out on 17 in an innings total of 97 runs.� McGrath was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 37 off 15 overs.� Australia began adding to their first innings lead of 110 runs, however, wickets continued to tumble.� Langer (10), Hayden (2) and Elliott (0) were out in the space of two runs at 3 for 14.� Some sanity then prevailed until Martyn (7) was out at 4 for 64 followed by Lehmann (51) at 5 for 77.� By tea, Australia was 5 for 85 with an overall lead of 195 runs.� While the bowlers continued to dominate during the evening session, the batsmen finally managed the occasional partnership.� Katich (15) was out at 6 for 114 and was followed 13 runs later by Warne (1).� From there, Gilchrist began protecting his captaincy record by belting the ball around before losing partner Gillespie (16) at 8 for 154.� Gilchrist (80) was run out at 9 for 201 while Kasprowicz (15) fell in the next and final over of the day without another run being added.� Malinga was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 42 off 15.1 overs.� Sri Lanka now have three day and 270 overs to make the required 312 runs for victory.

Sri Lanka made a steady start on the third morning.� However, when the score had moved to 23 runs in the eleventh over, Atapattu (10) and Sangakkara (0) were dismissed.� Seven runs later, Jayasuriya (16) was also out and Sri Lanka was in real trouble at 3 for 30.� Sri Lanka then managed to bat through the remainder of the session to be 3 for 50 at lunch.� The tourists picked up the scoring rate during the afternoon session and took the score to 109 before Samaraweera (32) was out.� From that point, wickets began to fall at roughly ten run intervals.� Jayawardene (44) and Arnold (11) were dismissed before Sri Lanka went to tea at 6 for 135.� With 177 more runs required, the result was largely academic and after Dilshan (14), Chandana (17), Zoysa (1) and Malinga (0) were dismissed, Sri Lanka was all out for 162 runs.� Kasprowicz recorded career best figures of 7 for 39 off 17.4 overs as Australia claimed victory by 149 runs.

Second Test
Cairns
09 - 13 June 2004

Sri Lanka won the toss and sent Australia in to bat first.� The decision proved a poor choice as the Australians dominated a chanceless a session that seldom saw an attacking field placing.� By lunch, Australia was no wicket for 92.� The slaughter continued throughout the afternoon session as both Langer and Hayden each posted their 19th Test centuries.� At tea, Australia was completely in control at no wicket for 222.� Sri Lanka finally dismissed Hayden (117) early in the evening session ay 1 for 255.� Ponting (22) was later out at 2 for 290.� However, by stumps, Australia was 2 for 370, with Langer (159*) and Martyn (56*) still at the crease.

Sri Lanka struck early on the second day and dismissed Langer (162) at 3 for 392.� Sri Lanka then struggled while Australia quickly took the score to 454 before Martyn?s (97) dismissal led to a collapse.� Sri Lanka quickly dismissed Katich (1), Lehmann (50) and Warne (2) to have Australia 7 for 474 at lunch, having lost 4 for 20.� During the first half of the afternoon session, Sri Lanka dismissed Gillespie (1), Kasprowicz (9) and Gilchrist (35) to have Australia all out for 517 runs.� Malinga was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 148 off 29.2 overs.� Sri Lanka began their reply by losing Jayasuriya (13) at 1 for 18.� However, from there, Sri Lanka steadied and at tea was 1 for 67.  Sri Lanka continued the steady recovery during the evening session, losing only the wicket of Sangakkara (74) at 2 for 156.  By stumps, Sri Lanka was 2 for 184, still 134 runs short of the follow on target.

Sri Lanka resumed on the third morning and Australia was unable to breakthrough during the session.� At lunch, Atapattu had passed his century and Sri Lanka was 2 for 280.� Australia began the afternoon session by dismissing Atapattu (133) in the second over and Jayawardene (43) in the third over.� However, Sti Lanka then batted through to a rain enforced early tea to be 4 for 342, having passed the follow on target.� Australia managed to dismiss Dilshan (35) in the over after tea, however, Sri Lanka then batted through the remaining rain interupted final session to end the day at 5 for 411, just 106 runs in arrears.

Bad weather played havoc on the fourth day and prevented any play for two and a half hours.� When play eventually got underway, Australia dismissed Kaluwitharana (34) in the third over at 6 for 420.� When Samaraweera (70) fell 25 runs later, Sri Lanka collapsed, losing Vaas (2), Chandana (19) and Malinga (0) in successive overs to be all out for 255.� Gillespie (3 for 116 off 37.4 overs) and Warne (3 for 129 off 38 overs) shared the bowling honours.� Australia then began adding to their 62 run lead, but soon lost Langer (8) at 1 for 10.� Sri Lanka managed to dismiss Ponting (45) at 2 for 105.� However, Australia powered on through the remainder of the session to finish the day at 2 for 194, with an overall lead of 256 runs.� With a well-timed declaration in the morning, the final day could see either side victorious, but the odds would favour Australia if Warne bowls to form.

Australia began the final day searching for quick runs.� In just over an hour, Australia added 98 runs, but lost Martyn (52), Lehmann (21), Katich (1), Hayden (132) after posting his second century of the match and his 20th Test century overall, Warne (4), Gilchrist (0) and Gillespie (1).� Chandana was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 101 off 18.4 overs.� After declaring at 9 for 292, Australia had set Sri Lanka a final innings target of 355 runs from 85 overs at 4.2 runs per over.� Sri Lanka lost Atapattu (9) on the way to being 1 for 48 at lunch from 14 overs.� After losing Jayasuriya (22) in the second over after lunch, Sri Lanka lost any chance of winning when Jayawardene (6) and Samaraweera (0) fell in the space of six runs to be 4 for 64.� On the stroke of tea, Dilshan (21) was caught and Sri Lanka was 5 for 107.� Sri Lanka?s chances of drawing the game depended upon Sangakkara remaining at the crease until stumps.� Australia dismissed Kaluwitharana (14) soon after play resumed at 6 for 136 and eventually, Sangakkara (66) with an hour of play remaining.� However, despite dismissing Chandana (14), Australia was unable to take the final two wickets. �Sri Lanka ended the day at 8 for 183 with Vaas (11) and Zoysa (3) at the crease when the match was declared a draw.� Warne was the best of the bowlers and his 4 for 70 off 37 took him level with Muralitharan for the Test wicket taking record 527 wickets.
Last Updated: 13 July 2004
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