3:33 AM
Syed Muneer
Melbourne: Sri Lanka beat Australia by 9 runs to qualify for the CB Series finals against the same opposition, knocking India out, on Friday.
Chasing a target of 239, Australia lost Matthew Wade (9) and David Warner (6) early. India's hopes may have been kept alive by Shane Watson who smashed 65 with five boundaries. Once his partner in Michael Hussey left, the hopes of a win for the hosts and a qualification for India began to fade.
David Hussey anchored himself to deny Sri Lanka but failed to find a partner to manage the other end. Daniel Chirstian (3), James Pattinson (12) and Clint McKay (6) left without any intention of mounting a fight.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Christian became the first Australian to take an ODI hat-trick since Brett Lee nearly a decade ago as Sri Lanka struggled to 238 at the MCG.
Sangakkara and Chandimal put on 123 for the third wicket and Lahiru Thirimanne made a useful 51 but too many of the batsmen fell for single figures and Sri Lanka were dismissed from the last ball of the 50th over.
