Nuwan Kulasekara and his bowling colleagues backed the captain Mahela Jayawardene’s decision to send Australia in at the WACA, where the hosts struggled to keep top-order batsmen at the crease. At the 25-over mark, Australia were 4 for 116 and were relying on the captain Michael Clarke, who was on 31, and David Hussey, who had made 22.

The allrounder Daniel Christian was due in next and was to be followed by the bowlers, so Sri Lanka knew another wicket would be a huge blow for the Australians. They nearly had it when Hussey was dropped on 3 as he tried to clear the infield off the offspin of Sachithra Senanayake, who replaced Thisara Perera in the line-up.

However, it was a tough chance for Upul Tharanga, who jumped in the air at mid-off and got his hand to the ball but couldn’t hang on, and next delivery Hussey got hold of a better version of the same shot, clearing the long-off boundary. He had come to the crease after the departure of his brother Michael Hussey, who fell victim to a similarly difficult opportunity that was not missed by Kulasekara.

Hussey had 23 and had been pulling well on the familiar WACA pitch when he pushed at a fuller ball from Kulasekara, who dived to his right to take a wonderful return catch. Kulasekara had also been the man who gave Sri Lanka their positive start, when he picked up a wicket in the fourth over, when Matthew Wade prodded outside off and edged behind for 1.