50 overs Australia 262 for 6 (Gilchrist 66, Ponting 58; Muralitharan 2-30) beat Sri Lanka 178 all out (Jayawardene 61, Sangakkara 58; Hogg 5-41) by 84 runs
Scorecard

Sydney or Dambulla, fast pitch or slow turner, pace bowler or spinner, Australia appear to care little. Despite unfamiliar conditions and an indifferent, much-talked, record on the subcontinent, it was very much business as usual for Australia in their opening match against Sri Lanka on Friday evening: their batsmen rattled up 262 for 6, a record score at Dambulla, their fielders hit the stumps, and their bowlers proved far too mean and penetrative.

Sri Lanka threatened briefly thanks to a valiant 121-run stand for the fourth wicket between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, but their twin departure in the space of seven balls triggered a spectacular collapse. Brad Hogg snapped up five wickets for 41 runs, career-best figures, as Sri Lanka threw away their last five wickets for 12 runs to lose by 84.

Australia controlled the match from the time Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first. This helped them avoid three-and-half-hours in scorching 35 C heat, and gave them best use of a slow pitch. Adam Gilchrist (66) and Matthew Hayden (40) capitalised fully, adding 104 from 110 balls for the first wicket, their 11th century stand together.

As expected, Sri Lanka quickly turned to their spinners - their seamers only bowled six overs in the innings - but Gilchrist and Hayden, after a brief lull, were soon ticking along comfortably. Gilchrist, who rushed to his 37th fifty from just 44 balls, was the more aggressive, unafraid to take the aerial route against the slower bowlers.

Upul Chandana, who finished up with 2 for 47 from his 10 overs, brought Sri Lanka back into the game as Gilchrist danced down the wicket and skewed a catch to Marvan Atapattu at cover. Moments later, Atapattu was back in action with a diving, underarm flick to run out Mathew Hayden (114 for 2).

Had Jayasuriya been able to gather a wayward return at the non-striker's end with Ponting, on 13, still struggling to regain his ground, Sri Lanka might have pulled themselves right back into the game. But Ponting and Damien Martyn settled and consolidated. Patiently, they milked 75 runs from 101 balls.

Chandana once again provided the breathrough after returning for a second spell. Martyn poked back a return catch and Chandana, tumbling around Ponting's bootstraps, snaffled the chance on the second attempt. Ponting departed soon after, lofting a catch to long-on (207 for 4).

With Muttiah Muralitharan grabbing a couple of wickets - he finished with 2 for 30 and troubled all the batsmen, especially with his wrong 'un - Sri Lanka kept the lid on the Australian innings during the later stages, until the final over when Andrew Symonds cut loose, flogging three fours and a six over long-on off Jayasuriya to finish with 37 from 20 balls.

Sri Lanka needed a good start, preferably one of their turbo-charged specialities. But Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana were both run out in the space of four deliveries to leave them in dire trouble. Jayasuriya started the slide with a sloppy blind turn for two that belied the experience of 309 caps - a Sri Lankan record, surpassing Aravinda de Silva. Kaluwitharana followed next over as Atapattu unwisely gambled on Ponting's arm from cover (13 for 2).

It got worse for Sri Lanka as Atapattu, pushing forward tentatively, was deceived by some late movement and clean bowled by Jason Gillespie, who bowled a probing and economical spell with the new ball (6-2-14-1).

The near-capacity crowd, many of who had sneaked off work for the weekend and traveled up from Colombo, were quiet and apparently resigned to defeat. But gradually, Sangakkara and Jayawardene repaired the early damage and built up some momentum against Australia's second-string bowlers.

Sangakkara reached his 10th fifty off 75 balls, and Jayawardene, forced to bat with a runner because of leg cramps, passed fifty for the 19th time soon after as Sri Lanka reached the final 20 overs needing 133 for victory.

However, Brett Lee returned to the attack and choose an opportune time to claim his 150th wicket in one-dayers, as Sangakkara feathered a catch behind (145 for 4). Minutes later, Jaywardene also departed as he edged a well-flighted offbreak onto his stumps to leave Sri Lanka pinned back on the ropes (147 for 5).

With the run rate spiralling out of control - they needed 97 from the final 10 overs - wickets tumbled: Chandana (9), somewhat unfortunately, was trapped lbw; Vaas (0) edged to slip; Kumar Dharmasena (0) was stumped; Nuwan Kulasekera (0) was bowled and Muralitharan was brilliantly caught in the deep by Lee diving forward. By then, the stuffing had long since been knocked out of the Sri Lankans by an Australian team that just can't stop winning.