Betfacts / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 29 February 2008 / 1 Comments

Australia get done at 1.01 after horrendous middle-order collapse in the last group match of the Commonwealth Bank Series...

Australia were matched at [1.01] for £76k and [1.02] for £237k when in cruise control chasing Sri Lanka's modest total of 221 in the last of the group matches of the Commonwealth Bank series.

With Gilchrist scoring 83 off just 50 balls, well supported by Chris Hopes who contributed with 28, Ricky "Punter" Ponting' s side were matched at Betfair's minimum price, with Sri Lanka touching [80.0]. But the wickets of Gilchrist and Hopes brought about a middle-order collapse that rivaled England's recent woes in the ODI game with Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds dismissed for ducks and Ponting (1), Hussey (5) and Haddin (7) all going cheaply.

With just Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken left and chasing more than 50 to win at more than a run-a-ball, Sri Lanka were just a [1.05] shot. But a brave partnership between the last pair saw Australia fall just 14 runs short of their total. By this stage Sri Lanka had drifted to [1.5] before Brett Lee was finally out.

Australia play India in the early hours of Sunday morning in the first match of the best-of-three Final and are [1.31] to go on and win the Commonwealth Bank Series. India are available at [3.9].

Tags: Commonwealth Bank Series, cricket betting, Jamie Pacheco, Ricky Ponting