Six wickets in a dramatic final session have given Australia victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Bellerive Oval.
Pace did the damage, as first Peter Siddle and then Mitchell Starc cut through some brave Sri Lankan resistance to clinch a 137-run victory with 10.4 overs left in the day.
The win - Australia's first Test victory of the summer - avoided a repeat of Adelaide, where the home side failed to take enough wickets on the final day to defeat South Africa.
Australia will go into the Boxing Day Test with a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Starc took 5 for 63 following on from his strong performance in Perth against South Africa.
Siddle was again crucial for Australia, taking key wickets as the final day wore on, keeping Australia in with a chance of victory.
He took 4 for 50 to go with his first innings haul of 5 for 54 and was unsurprisingly named man of the match.
Siddle told Grandstand that it was a tough challenge to prise out the Sri Lankan batting on the final day.
"Any bowling effort is going to be hard, but we knew if we kept persisting, and kept bowling in the right areas that the wickets would come," he said.
"It was just like the first innings, we dug in and kept nagging away at them ... and we got the results.
"Credit to the whole bowling unit, the way we went about it and the way we built the pressure - and getting 20 wickets for the match was outstanding."
Captain Michael Clarke had nothing but praise for his team's effort after the match.
"I think the fight the bowlers showed was outstanding, I think the way the batters went about in the second innings ... that it didn't bother them that they had to sacrifice their wicket for the team and score as quickly as they could - that takes a lot of character," he said.
Asked what he said to his team before the final session, he replied: "(I said) take six wickets, please!"
"We knew it was going to take hard work on that pitch, and consistent bowling in one area, execution of our plans - so credit to the bowlers, they certainly did that today."
Clarke joined the growing Australian injury list when he retired hurt in the second innings with a hamstring injury.
Asked if he was confident he would be able to recover in time to take his place for the Boxing Day Test, he replied: "No doubt".
The Sri Lankans had begun the day at 2 for 65 facing an uphill task to secure a draw on a deteriorating wicket.
The key to survival was the two veterans, captain Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.
The pair frustrated the Australian attack for some time, taking the score to 2 for 112 before Siddle made the breakthrough, dismissing Jayawardene for 19, caught by Clarke at slip.
The big wicket was Sangakkara, and when he was trapped in front by Siddle for 63, it looked like Australia was well on its way to victory.
A rearguard action by Thilan Samaraweera and Angelo Mathews showed Sri Lanka had other ideas, however.
When Clarke threw the ball to Matthew Wade just before tea with Sri Lanka still four wickets down, it was clear the pressure was back on the home side.
Enter Siddle, who drew an edge to the keeper to remove Mathews (19), then produced an unplayable ball that swung late and stayed low to dismiss Samaraweera for 49, leaving the tourists at 6 for 218 and the tail exposed.
Then Starc took over with a brilliant spell of bowling that accounted for Prasanna Jayawardene for 21 and Nuwan Kulasekara for 9.
There was still a chance of survival for the tourists, but when Starc sent down another yorker that pitched at Rangana Herath's toes before cannoning into the stumps, it was down to the last wicket.
Siddle had one last chance to grab the last wicket and make history with the first 10-wicket Test match haul at Bellerive, but Chanaka Welegedara and Shaminda Eranga managed to negotiate his over.
It was Starc who dismissed Eranga with a short ball feathered to the keeper to kickstart the Australian celebrations.
Sri Lankan captain Jayawardene told Grandstand things had looked positive at tea before Siddle and Starc took over.
"Siddle bowled a very good spell after tea and he got rid of Samaraweera and Angelo (Mathews). From that point on it was going to be tough," he said.
"I thought throughout the Test match we fought very well.
"(I'm) a bit disappointed but at the end of the day we were behind in this Test match, trying to save (the game) after four days of cricket, not a good position to be in.
"Losing to a better side today, we need to go back to the drawing board.
"There are positives we can take from this, (Tillakaratne) Dilshan batted very well, and the bowlers did bowl well in patches - we need to be more consistent."
Tags: cricket, sport, hobart-7000, tas, australia, sri-lanka First posted December 18, 2012 19:42:38
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