Mahela Jayawardene and Dinesh Chandimal take Sri Lanka to top of table

Sri Lanka moved to the top of the table in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series beating Australia by three wickets with four balls to spare at the Bellerieve Oval here Friday.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene (85) and Dinesh Chandimal (80) led Sri Lanka to a record ODI chase at Hobart, overhauling the 281-run target after pulling Australia back in the slog overs and restricting them to 280 for six.

Sri Lanka top the table with 15 points — one ahead of the hosts, while India are in third position with 10 points. India will now have to win both their remaining matches if they are to have any chance of qualifying for the finals of the tournament.

Electing to bat, Australia suffered early blows with both the openers back in the pavilion with just 27 on the board. However, Peter Forrest, who has taken over the No.3 position vacated by Ricky Ponting, struck a brilliant century (104) to take Australia to 280 for six.

Forrest and Michael Clarke (70) strung together a mammoth 154-run partnership. David Hussey’s late blitzkrieg, 40 off 28 balls, gave the finishing touch to the home team’s total.

Sri Lanka, in their reply, were quick off the blocks largely thanks to Jayawardene. He was ably supported by 22-year-old Chandimal, who jumped to the top spot of run-getters in the tournament with 306 runs.

The Lankans were well on their way to reaching the target, but some panicky hitting towards the end made the contest too close for their comfort. Needing 79 runs at a run a ball, they lost four quick wickets and had to be saved by some late heroics from all-rounder Thisara Perera.

Perera took on Daniel Christian in the penultimate over of the match and smashed him for a four and a six off the last two balls to leave Sri Lanka with three to get in the last over.

This was Sri Lanka’s third straight victory in the tournament after losing the first two and tying the third.