Captain Michael Clarke put his Australia's 78-run defeat in the third ODI against Sri Lanka down to a failure of the top order.
Sri Lanka were put in to bat in Hambantota after Clarke had won the toss, and the hosts racked up 287 for nine in their 50 overs - Tillakaratne Dilshan sharing a 137-run opening stand with centurion Upul Tharanga.
The tourists were then bowled out for 208, but still lead the series 2-1 with two one-dayers left to play.
"We didn't perform well enough at the top of the order," admitted Clarke.
"We have no excuses. We didn't perform as well as we would like and we know that.
"We have some work to do over the next few days because, as I said from the start, playing Sri Lanka, especially in their home conditions, you have to be at your best to beat them."
While the Aussie skipper hit 46, Michael Hussey top-scored for the visitors with 63 but there was little else in the way of resistance from Australia as Lasith Malinga tore his way to a five wicket haul. Debutant Shaminda Eranda also made a telling impact as he removed both Brad Haddin and Ricky Ponting early on.
Dilshan paid tribute to Malinga and Eranga, and also emphasised how important it was for himself and Tharanga to survive a tricky opening period in the Sri Lankan innings.
"The first 10 overs were crucial, and we did well to see them off," said the Sri Lankan captain.
"All the batsmen that followed did well. We believed 260 was good to defend, and we proved it.
"Eranga bowled really well, and Malinga was good as usual."
The series now shifts to Colombo for the final two games, with the fourth ODI taking place on Saturday.
Sri Lanka were put in to bat in Hambantota after Clarke had won the toss, and the hosts racked up 287 for nine in their 50 overs - Tillakaratne Dilshan sharing a 137-run opening stand with centurion Upul Tharanga.
The tourists were then bowled out for 208, but still lead the series 2-1 with two one-dayers left to play.
"We didn't perform well enough at the top of the order," admitted Clarke.
"We have no excuses. We didn't perform as well as we would like and we know that."We have some work to do over the next few days because, as I said from the start, playing Sri Lanka, especially in their home conditions, you have to be at your best to beat them."
While the Aussie skipper hit 46, Michael Hussey top-scored for the visitors with 63 but there was little else in the way of resistance from Australia as Lasith Malinga tore his way to a five wicket haul. Debutant Shaminda Eranda also made a telling impact as he removed both Brad Haddin and Ricky Ponting early on.
Dilshan paid tribute to Malinga and Eranga, and also emphasised how important it was for himself and Tharanga to survive a tricky opening period in the Sri Lankan innings.
"The first 10 overs were crucial, and we did well to see them off," said the Sri Lankan captain.
"All the batsmen that followed did well. We believed 260 was good to defend, and we proved it.
"Eranga bowled really well, and Malinga was good as usual."
The series now shifts to Colombo for the final two games, with the fourth ODI taking place on Saturday.
England celebrated reaching No. 1 in the world with a good night in Birmingham on Sunday but it was soon back to the day job and, four days later, they already face the first test of their new status. The 'dead rubber syndrome' is always a risk when a team has scaled such heights to secure a major goal and Andrew Strauss will be desperate that nothing takes the gloss off the achievements of the last month. In truth it will take a lot to remove the after-glow of three commanding performances, but this England team are never satisfied. They'll see this final Test at The Oval as a chance to lay down another marker with a show of hunger and desire. Even the great Australian sides under Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh had issues with keeping intensity high when a series was decided. England benefited with a number of one-off Test victories and won't want to offer India a similar opportunity.
It's difficult to see India bouncing back to save face over the next five days. They have been so far off the pace that this is a series they'll want to consign to history as quickly as possible. That, though, will be easier said than done with the fall-out well under way back at home and serious questions being asked of the team. Some of those questions are more sensible than others, but a number of players will be heading back with damaged reputations.
The much-vaunted batting line-up have one more chance to live up to their billing having not reached 300 in the series. The wait goes on for Sachin Tendulkar's 100th hundred, while Gautam Gambhir has disappointed and VVS Laxman hasn't made the most of some decent form. Then there's the challenge of taking 20 wickets. The pace bowlers have all had their moments but, collectively, have not been able to sustain pressure on England.
Praveen Kumar has been a tireless workhorse and Ishant Sharma has kept running in, but they have suffered from not having an economical spinner to tie up an end. If Oval history is anything to go by they could be in for more hard toil.
Sri Lanka have dropped promising batsman Dinesh Chandimal, allrounder Thisara Perera and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath from the squad for the final two one-dayers against Australia, who lead the series 2-1. Seekkuge Prasanna, the 26-year-old legspinner, has been called up and has to fly back from England, where he was representing Sri Lanka A.
The other major news was that vice-captain Angelo Mathews, who missed the third ODI due to an injury is fit for the remaining matches. "He should be alright for the rest of the series," Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said. "He could have even played on Tuesday, but we didn't want to take a risk. If something had happened he would have been ruled out for two months. He has got three more days to recover from the injury. Angelo is a key member of our side and when he goes out it's a big loss."
Chandimal, 21, had made an unbeaten century at Lord's and 54 in the deciding game of the ODI series against England last month, but suffered a string of failures since, managing only 41 in four innings.
Perera played only one ODI since his hard-hitting cameo in the World Cup final, with the role of the third fast bowler to be filled by either Mathews, Suranga Lakmal or Shaminda Eranga, who made an impact on debut in the third ODI on Tuesday. Herath has also had only one ODI since the World Cup, with the emergence of legspinning allrounder Jeevan Mendis and the spin pair of Ajantha Mendis and Suraj Randiv limiting his opportunities.
Herath's place in the squad was taken by Prasanna, who hit the headlines on Sunday with a six-wicket haul against England A. Prasanna plays for the Sri Lanka Army, impressing in their youth ranks before making his domestic one-day debut in 2006. He built up an outstanding List A record over the past five years, taking 73 wickets at 18.38 in 45 matches.
Squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Chamara Silva, Nuwan Kulasekera, Lasith Malinga, Shaminda Eranga, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv
Australia's World Cup squad will get on a plane on Wednesday with injuries a concern, but the coach Tim Nielsen hopes the selectors don't risk sending too many unfit men to defend the title. Ricky Ponting (finger), Michael Hussey (hamstring) and Nathan Hauritz (shoulder) have all been racing to prove their fitness for the tournament, while some of their potential replacements are also struggling, including Xavier Doherty (back) and Shaun Marsh (hamstring).
The squad heads to India this week and their first practice match is on Sunday against India in Bangalore, eight days before their opening game of the tournament proper, against Zimbabwe. Hussey said on the weekend that he would find it difficult to be fully fit for the first couple of outings, while Hauritz, who dislocated his shoulder during the recent ODIs against England, was bowling in the nets last week and said he had no doubt he would be fit for the World Cup.
But while Australia might be able to carry one injured player at the start of the tournament, it's risky to allow too many men to board the plane at less than 100% fitness. Nielsen said he believed the squad could not take such a chance with the World Cup on the line.
"I can't afford to have two, three or four guys that we're uncertain about," Nielsen said. "It means we've only got 11 fit ready to go at the start. That's the quandary we face. What is the role the players who are injured play? Do we have back-up for that position? If we have an injury to somebody in the team at the moment is the injured person the next cab off the rank or the only possible replacement or do we have other options? All those things will be thrown into the mix."
One positive is the progress being made by Ponting, who missed the Sydney Test after aggravating his broken finger during the Boxing Day Test. Ponting had surgery on the little finger on his left hand after the Melbourne game, and by the time the World Cup opener arrives it will have had nearly seven weeks of recovery time.
"Ricky had another bat on Friday afternoon in Sydney and went well so that's a positive for us," Nielsen said. "He seems to be getting better every day. He's probably at least where we would like him to be."
The spin position shapes up as one of the more serious issues, with Steven Smith also battling a hip muscle injury, along with the problems that are troubling Hauritz and Doherty. Smith's injury shouldn't be a major concern, though the more serious situation with Hauritz, added to the likelihood that Hussey won't be fit for the start of the World Cup, leaves the selectors with some headaches.
"At the moment Hussey and Hauritz are in the squad - they're the first cabs off the rank," Nielsen said. "If we're going to replace them we're going to have to rule them out of the tournament full stop. That's the first question we're going to have to answer. Are they going to take any part in the tournament in a timeframe that's going to work for us?
"Once we make that decision then it's, okay, if we are going to replace them, is the replacement ready to go straight away or are we better off taking the named player and they might be ready at the same time? All those different things that come into the equation."
Australia have two warm-up games before the World Cup begins in earnest, and they have six pool matches before finding out if they have progressed to the next round. Australia are in a group with Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Canada and Kenya.
Hot Spot will not be part of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) that will be used during the2011 ICC World Cup, reducing the system to its basic requirements: a ball-tracker (in this case Hawk-Eye), a super slow-mo camera and a 'clear' stump microphone.In October 2010, the ICC had announced that the Hot Spot cameras would be used in the semi-finals and final of the World Cup, to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Feb 19 to April 2. An ICC spokesman, however, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo on Saturday that, "the supplier of the Hot Spot technology advised that it was not willing to supply its cameras for the tournament so, accordingly, they will not be used at any stage in the tournament. The use of these cameras is not a minimum requirement for the DRS."
While the Hot Spot cameras are not a minimum requirement of the UDRS, they are thought to provide among the most accurate images of the contact between ball and bat, or pad, using infrared thermal imaging. The owners of the Hot Spot technology, Melbourne based BBG Sport, were unwilling to comment on their decision.
The Hot Spot infrared cameras form part of military hardware used in jetfighters, tanks and warships, and they fall under the category of restricted equipment which needs a temporary export licence from the Australian Defence Department whenever they are taken out of the country. Part of that licence includes the return of the cameras to Australia within a seven-day period after the end of the event in which they are being used.
The cameras were first brought into India during the 2009 Champions League Twenty20 event. It is possible that the logistical hurdle of moving the cameras, which are both expensive and sensitive security equipment, in and out of Sri Lanka and India could have led to the decision. India remains the only country in cricket that has not accepted the UDRS. Ironically, the only part of UDRS technology basket that is considered by the Indians to be the most trustworthy is the Hot Spot camera.
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