Australia reemphasized their superiority over the other teams in this World Cup by coasting to an easy win over Sri Lanka. Now only New Zealand remains as the final hurdle and that should be a match to watch out for. The fizz went out of the Australia-Lanka game the moment the Lankans decided to rest their main bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan. With their last game against Ireland in the Super 8 stage, it makes sense not to expose the senior bowlers to any risk of injury and keep them fresh for that game.

Australia are certainly not missing Brett Lee, given the way Nathan Bracken has taken over the new ball and the way Tait is bowling with good pace. The veteran McGrath is still picking wickets with clever variation of pace,including the bouncer. The partnership between Jayawardene and Chamara Silva was just the platform that the Lankans needed to slog it in the final overs, but they lost the plot, and but for some spirited tail wagging, they would not have finished with the score that they had.

In the absence of Vaas and the rested Malinga, it was going to be a big struggle for the Sri Lankan bowlers and the pressure just got to them. The first over itself showed the pressure with wides and no-balls by Dilhara Fernando. The Aussie start was electric, and after that Ponting and Symonds played capital innings to take the team to a win that pretty much assures them the top spot in the Super 8 stage.

The Man of the Match is Nathan Bracken for his magnificent opening burst where he got both the dangerous openers, Jayasuriya and Tharanga, and then came back to put a clamp on the scoring rate at the end of the Sri Lankan innings.