Siddle And Starc Bowl Australia To Victory In Hobart

Siddle And Starc Bowl Australia To Victory In Hobart

Mitchell Starc (left) and Peter Siddle were Australia's heroes on the final day in Hobart

©REUTERS / Action Images

Australia 450-5 dec. & 278 (Warner 68) beat
Sri Lanka 336 & 255 by 137 runs
First Test, Hobart
Scorecard | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Report by John Pennington
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Clarke/Siddle Press Conference Audio

Australia completed a 137-run win over Sri Lanka on the final day of the first Test in Hobart to go 1-0 up in their three-match series but only after Sri Lanka took the game into the final hour.

Set 393 to win, the tourists were bowled out for 255 and their wait for a Test win on Australian soil goes on as Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle took nine of the 10 wickets to fall with the last six coming in the final session.

Starc returned five for 63, justifying his selection ahead of fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson while Siddle returned four for 50 and Shane Watson one for 54.

Kumar Sangakkara ground out 63 in 226 balls and Thilan Samaraweera made 49 in 140 but their gutsy efforts were in vain.

Beginning the day on 65 for two, the task ahead of them was hard enough without losing Mahela Jayawardene (19) cheaply to Siddle.

Sri Lanka had set their stall out to bat through the day, Jayawardene facing 77 balls before Sangakkara and Samaraweera stayed together for 20 overs.

Sangakkara fell when he was trapped in front by Siddle and after Angelo Mathews (19) was caught behind off the same bowler, Samaraweera was also trapped in front as Siddle ripped out the heart of Sri Lanka's resistance.

Starc then took centre stage by picking up the remaining four wickets, his hostile pace too much for Sri Lanka's lower-order batsmen to deal with.

Prasanna Jayawardene was their last hope and he made 21 before he was caught by Michael Hussey and the innings quickly subsided following his departure, Nuwan Kulasekara (9), Rangana Herath (8) and Shaminda Eranga (6) hardly inconveniencing Australia's charge to an emphatic victory which, following two draws and a loss against South Africa, is their first of the summer.

Siddle was named man of the match after adding his haul of four for for 50 to his effort of five for 54 in the first innings while Starc finished with five for 63.

The second Test gets underway in Melbourne on 26th December.

© Cricket World 2012