Perara lights up the field

A rejuvenated Sri Lanka excelled with the ball and in the field to cut down Australia's batting and then raced impudently to their rain-reduced target for an eight-wicket victory and a bonus point in a lopsided encounter at the SCG. One of the chief architects of the win, which was a team effort, was Thisara Perera.

Perera engineered two run-outs and claimed two wickets at the bowling crease, while several others chipped in: Farveez Maharoof bowled intelligently on his national return, Lasith Malinga struck a key early blow by defeating David Warner with a slower ball and Angelo Mathews maintained his strong form in this series by accounting for Michael Hussey.

Perera, who was named Man of the Match, accounted for Matthew Wade and Brett Lee through some sharp fielding. After Wade and Peter Forrest had put on 23 for the third wicket - the innings' highest partnership till the ninth wicket - Perera swooped in from short cover to turn a possible single into a horrid run-out: the batsmen were both at the same end before Wade elected to sacrifice his wicket. Later, Perera, had the important wicket of middle order big-hitter Daniel Christian - he shuffled across to be lbw to Perera. At the death, when a busy David Hussey looked set to carry Australia past 170, Perera rounded-off a fine day in the field with his wicket, caught by Lahiru Thirimanne for 58.