They may be Australia's "B Team" but George Bailey's men made a mockery of that moniker with a 107-run one-day win over Sri Lanka at the MCG on Friday.
Man-of-the-match Phil Hughes (112) became the first Australian to score a century on one-day international debut as Australia clobbered 5 for 305 before Clint McKay (4 for 33) helped bowl the Sri Lankans out for 198 with 10 overs to spare.
Mitchell Starc removed Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga for 1 and McKay struck a key blow when skipper Mahela Jayawardene was caught at slip for 5.
Sri Lanka recovered to reach 2 for 111 at the 25-over mark but Tillakaratne Dilshan (51) was run out next ball by a direct hit from Usman Khawaja.
In a remarkable double-play of suicidal Sri Lankan running between wickets, cover fieldsman Glenn Maxwell ran out Angelo Mathews (12) and Lahiru Thirimanne (0) in consecutive deliveries in the 30th over as Sri Lanka slumped to 5 for 128.
Mitchell Johnson (2 for 43) dismissed Jeevan Mendis (20) caught at mid-off and 35-year-old wicketkeeper Brad Haddin pulled off a diving catch to remove the danger man Dinesh Chandimal for 73 in the following over from McKay.
Johnson also removed Thisara Perera (4) and McKay claimed the last two wickets in successive deliveries.
Despite fears of a very low crowd figure, 27,461 fans attended including several thousand Sri Lankan supporters.
Stand-in skipper Bailey (89 off 79 balls) and Hughes (112 off 129) shared a crucial 140-run stand for Australia's third wicket.
Australia's other top-order debutants Aaron Finch (16) and Khawaja (3) failed to match the crowd-pleasing strokeplay of Hughes who hit 14 fours.
David Hussey made a good fist of trying to slot into the finishing role made famous by his brother Mike with an innings of 60 not out from 34 deliveries.
Australia rested skipper Michael Clarke, opener David Warner and injured vice-captain Shane Watson while veteran Mike Hussey has been dumped after announcing this will be his final international season.
It was the first time since 1986 Australia has fielded a one-day side with at least three debutants, prompting criticism that it was a "B-team".
The second match in the five-game series is on Sunday in Adelaide.
AAP
Tags: onedayseries, cricket, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia, sri-lanka First posted January 11, 2013 22:32:25
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