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A weakened Australian batting line-up made hard work of a simple chase as they defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets to open a clear lead at the top of the VB Series table.
Patient knocks from Simon Katich (52) and Damien Martyn (46), both under pressure to retain their places, ensured that the 219-run target was never going to be an obstacle, but killed off Australia's chances of securing a third bonus point for the series.
A late double-strike from Muthiah Muralitharan, in which he removed Martyn and Andrew Symonds (32) in the space of three balls, briefly raised Sri Lankan hopes before Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey saw the home side to victory with nine balls to spare.
In stifling forty degree heat with a thick cloud of smoke hanging overhead from nearby bushfires, Sri Lanka's openers set the tone for the game early on; painstakingly slow, defensive and ultimately boring.
Upul Tharanga, recalled after the late withdrawal of dynamic opener Sanath Jayasuriya with a shoulder injury, was chiefly responsible for the tedious affair. His unimaginative 31 from 66 balls and failure to turn over the strike allowed the Australian bowlers to settle into a good rhythm and keep things tight.
To their credit, Sri Lanka made a good fist of keeping wickets in hand. Jehan Mubarak (34) fell while trying to accelerate his innings, spooning Symonds to Brett Lee at mid-off, but Sri Lanka reached 96/1 with little ado.
Tharanga failed to capitalise on his lengthy stay at the crease when he miscued a Glenn McGrath bouncer to Damien Martyn at short midwicket, and the underachieving Kumar Sangakkara (25) soon followed him back to the pavilion, inside edging Brad Hogg onto his stumps.
Mahela Jayawardene (25) and captain Marvan Atapattu (32) consolidated, adding 55 for the fourth wicket and laying a sound platform for final acceleration.
However, they were both removed in quick succession by Nathan Bracken and when Hogg dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan in similar fashion to Sangakkara, Sri Lanka had slumped to 167/6 and simply lacked runs on the board.
Russel Arnold contributed a handy 27 from 28 balls as Chaminda Vaas and Akalanka Ganegama perished to Symonds in pursuit of quick runs. Sri Lanka finished at a sub-par 218/8 from their 50 overs on a wicket that was expected to yield in excess of 270.
Symonds claimed figures of 3-48 from his nine overs, while the unpraised Hogg took 2-35 - identical figures to Murali - and Bracken's fine second spell gave him 2-45.
Promoted to the captaincy after sitting out the last two matches, a refreshed Adam Gilchrist looked to put a form slump behind him as he smashed five fours and a six before picking out Ganegama at mid-off to give the underrated Nuwan Kulasekara his first wicket.
Brad Hodge didn't do himself any favours with a timid 5 from 16 balls before being bowled by a Kulasekara off-cutter.
Martyn then joined Katich and the pair grafted Australia towards the victory total before Katich was caught behind off Dilshan to leave Australia delicately positioned at 115/3.
Symonds picked off the spin attack with aplomb while Martyn proved a solid exponent of the reverse sweep as they put Australia in an almost impregnable position. The match was revived, however, when Symonds top edged a sweep off Muralidaran to a juggling Tharanga at deep midwicket, and Martyn was bowled two balls later.
Clarke and Hussey then combined to knock off the 44 runs required for victory with nine balls to spare.
Symonds was named man of the match for his three wickets and innings of 32 from 33 balls.
The teams will do battle again on Sunday at Perth, with question marks hanging over the return of resting captain Ponting. Whatever the case, one can only hope that the match is slightly more interesting than the dour farce that unfolded at Adelaide this evening.
Teams
Australia: Adam Gilchrist, Simon Katich, Brad Hodge, Damien Martyn, Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath, Stuart Clark (sub).
Sri Lanka: Jehan Mubarak, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, TM Dilshan, Marvan Atapattu, Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara, Akalanka Ganegama, Muthiah Muralidaran, Malinga Bandara (sub).
