Melbourne, Feb 22: Australia cruised into the finals of the Commonwealth Bank Series as the world champions beat Sri Lanka by 24 runs according to the D/L method. Sri Lanka had to be 71 for the loss of three wickets at the time when heavy rain came pouring but they had lost an extra wicket which tilted the decision in favour of Australia.

Mike Hussey was awarded the man-of-the-match for his solid 64 in tough circumstances.

Earlier, Incessant rains suspended the continuation of play at the MCG at a crucial juncture where the game was poised equally. Sri Lanka were 77 runs for the loss of four wickets, still requiring 108 runs to win. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chamara Silva were at the crease before the rain halted the stiff competition. Sri Lanka faced a massive blow as their star batsman Kumara Sangakkara was caught by Symonds off Australian medium pacer James Hopes. The left hander was looking good before perishing in an effort to accelerate the score.

Nathan Bracken returned in his second spell with a bang to remove Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene just when he was looking solid and building an important partnership with Kumara Sangakkara to bail the islanders out of trouble.

Clark made his presence felt at the MCG as he started his second over with a bang by claiming his second victim in the form of Dilruwan Perera. With both the openers gone, the onus shifted on skipper Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara to bring stability in the innings.

Clark struck gold with his first delivery of the match as he got the prized wicket of the explosive opener Sanath Jayasuriya. This was the 31st occasion when Jayasuriya was out for a duck, a dubious world record for the master batsman. Sri Lanka had lost their first wicket with no runs on the board.

A superb performance by the Sri Lankan bowlers restricted the fabled Australian batting line up to a paltry 184 runs. The lone pair to hold the innings together was the duo of Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke. Both the batsmen scored well crafted half-centuries as the rest of the pack could not make any significant contribution to the total.

Malinga joined the party in the death overs and ended Brad Hogg’s innings as the batsman lobbed an easy catch to Dilshan.

Earlier, James Hopes departed as he was stumped off Muttiah Muralitharan’s clever bowling. He was stumped for the third time in succession in the series. Australia had lost the sixth wicket with 166 runs on the board.

Clarke was claimed by Muralitharan soon after he scored his fifty as the spinners too kept the things tight for the Aussie batsmen.

A disciplined maintenance of line and length by the leather wielders of Sri Lanka restricted the Australian ruin scoring drastically and the pair of Clarke and Hussey managed to get their team to just 140 runs from 41 overs. Michael Clarke hit a valiant half-century to save some grace for his team.

Sri Lanka dominated the first half of the Australian innings as they managed to claim yet another wicket in the form of Andrew Symonds. The batsman edged a delivery by Maharoof into the hands of the wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara at a score of 4 runs. Australian scorecard read a bleak 54 runs for the loss of four wickets.

Australia made matters worse for them as a terrible mix up in the middle of the pitch resulted in the departure of skipper Ricky Ponting. The home team was 44 runs for the loss of three top order wickets as the Symonds walked in to occupy the crease.

Sri Lanka made their presence felt at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as they sent Oz dangerman Matthew Hayden back to the pavilion before he could wreck havoc on the Islanders’ chances of a win. The batsman departed for a score of 23 runs while trying to work a fullish delivery onto the leg side.

Prior to this, Australia threw caution to the winds as the pair of Hayden and Ponting batted cautiously to avoid a top order collapse in the face of disciplined Lankan bowling. The runs were hard to come by as they managed to take the total to 26 runs in 12 overs, but kept the wickets intact for later fireworks.

Vaas drew first blood for his team as he claimed the wicket of Gilchrist. The batsman was done early on in his innings as he departed after scoring 6 runs, getting clean bowled while giving the charge to the bowler.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the 9th ODI of the Commonwealth Bank Series. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was not affected much by the decision as he thought that batting first was his game plan anyways.

With overcast conditions and chances of rain in the later part of the day, the match was crucial to the islanders to stay alive in the series.