Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga produced one of the great one-day international fightbacks to clinch an improbable victory for Sri Lanka, extending Australia's losing streak to six international games since July. The visitors seemed destined for a humiliating loss when they crashed to 8 for 107 chasing 240, but Mathews and Malinga kept fighting, spurred on by noisy support from a crowd dominated by Sri Lankan fans.
They compiled the highest ninth-wicket partnership in ODI history, beating a 27-year-old record set by Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani at the 1983 World Cup, and the 132-run stand left Australia's confidence in tatters. Malinga belted his way to his first one-day half-century and Mathews played the guiding hand with a wonderful unbeaten 77 as the pair raced towards their target with plenty of time to spare.
They had a scare when Malinga was run out with the scores level, trying for the winning single to cover, but Muttiah Muralitharan finished the job with a flick off his pads for four to fine leg off Shane Watson. It will be Muralitharan's final international act at the MCG, where he was called for throwing 15 years ago, but this time there was nothing but roaring applause.
Apart from the debutant left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty, who had a dream start to his international career with 4 for 46, none of Australia's bowlers looked seriously threatening against Malinga and Mathews. The stand-in captain Michael Clarke had a furrowed brow for most of the final hour, searching for a way to break the stand, but curiously did not employ the aggressive Steven Smith after the 25th over.
Malinga was the aggressor and finished with 56 from 48 balls, but Mathews was the architect of the comeback. His 84-ball innings included eight fours and one six, and was defined by a regular pinpointing of gaps in the field. Mathews struck the ball cleanly and almost never looked in danger of losing his wicket.
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