AUSTRALIA v SRI LANKA

At Melbourne, January 4 (day/night). Australia won by 73 runs. Toss: Australia. The first part of the World Series Cup ended with both teams going through the motions on an unpredictable pitch. As Border, the Australian captain, said, To see the pitch crack as it did was disturbing. The cracks lifted the pitch, which made each ball behave differently. Certainly, winning the toss was to Australia's advantage, but it needed a fifth-wicket stand of 82 in 75 minutes to ensure they could exploit it. Jones batted for 130 minutes and faced 98 balls for his 69. Although the Sri Lankan top-order batting tried valiantly to master the conditions, the dismissal of Gurusinha at 121 opened the way for the Australian bowlers. In all, six wickets fell for 8 runs in 27 minutes from 31 deliveries as Australia claimed their fourth win in a row and, even at this early stage, a place in the finals.

Man of the Match: D. M. Jones.

Attendance: 33,029.