A dominant display by Australia saw them thrash Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the Super Eights and enter into the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup at Kingsmead, Durban on Thursday.
Nothing went right for the Lankans as Australia, who were missing skipper Ricky Ponting due to a hamstring injury in the knock-out game, bowled out Sri Lanka for a mere 101 in 19.3 overs before achieving the target in 10.2 overs.
Matthew Hayden (58 off 38 balls, 7x4, 2x6) and stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist (31 off 25 balls, 4x4) quickly knocked the stuffing off the bowlers, hitting them all round the park.
Hayden gave the finishing touches to a superlative performance by hitting Jehan Mubarak for six over mid-wicket to seal the victory.
Australia became the second team after Pakistan to enter the last four from Group F.
Gilchrist won the toss and put Sri Lanka in, and his pacers, led by Stuart Clark (4-20), did not release the Lankans from their vice-like grip, dismissing them for the fifth lowest score in international Twenty20 cricket.
Brett Lee started the rot trapping Sanath Jayasuriya lbw for a duck in the first over and the wickets kept falling with monotonous regularity as Mahela Jayawardene's side slumped to 43 for seven at one stage.
Kumar Sangakkara (22 off 23 balls) was the only top order batsman to get into double figures.
Only an eighth wicket stand of 40 between Jehan Mubarak (28 off 26 balls) and Chaminda Vaas (21) gave them a semblance of respectability, but it was never going to be enough.
Apart from Clark, Nathan Bracken (2-14) and Lee (2-27) ensured that the Lankan innings never recovered from the initial setbacks.
The only sore point for the Aussies could be a possible injury scare for all-rounder Shane Watson, who had to go off the field in the middle of an over for what looked like a hamstring problem.
Watson was playing his first match in the tournament after recovering from injury and had taken the place of Ponting, who has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.
It was a must-win situation for both teams and the Australians were at their professional best with the ball and in the field.
