Sri Lanka skittled for 65 in 25 overs

ADELAIDE, Jan 7 AAP - The inability of Sri Lanka's batsmen to handle bouncy Australian pitches was exposed in farcical fashion when the team was skittled for 65 in just 25 overs by Australia A at Adelaide Oval here today.

Captain Sanath Jayasuriya won the toss and chose to bat in their day-night limited overs match.

But the Sri Lankan innings turned into a disaster from the third over, when Jayasuriya ran out opening partner Avishka Gunawardene for a duck.

Opening bowlers Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken followed that dismissal with two wickets each, as the tourists fell to 5-50 in the 14th over.

Jayasuriya (five) was caught behind down the legside, but the next three batsmen to fall were all surprised by balls which bounced higher than expected.

Aravinda De Silva (nine) top-edged an attempted pull shot off Williams to provide an easy return catch, then Bracken hit the shoulder of Mahela Jayawardene's bat, with the ball popping up to Mike Hussey, who took a simple catch at point, to dismiss the batsman for a duck.

Wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara (six) then hit a drive off Bracken straight to Darren Lehmann at short cover, with the ball striking his bat higher than he intended.

All-rounder Ian Harvey then chipped in with a four-over spell in which he took the stunning figures of 3-2, including a sharp caught and bowled to remove Tillakaratne.

Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz spun a ball between bat and bad to bowl tailender Dilhara Fernando for a duck.

Australia A skipper Darren Lehmann then brought himself into the attack, but only needed one over to finish the innings, picking up the wicket of Pulasthi Gunaratne (four) with the final ball, with Harvey taking a sharp catch at first slip.

While the pitch had plenty of bounce in it, it was certainly no minefield and could not be blamed for the dismal Sri Lankan batting performance.

The Sri Lankans could only thank some wayward bowling in the early overs by Williams and Bracken for reaching the total they did.

Several wides went to the boundary, as Australia A conceded 26 sundries in the innings, by far the biggest contributor to the meagre Sri Lankan total.

Australia A started its innings after only a 10-minute break, because of the early finish to the Sri Lankan innings, and was 0-19 in the third over, with Greg Blewett on eight and Jimmy Maher on six.