BRISBANE — Sri Lanka overcame a shaky start to its small run chase before beating Australia by four wickets with a full 30 overs to spare Friday, taking a 2-1 lead in the one-day series thanks chiefly to Nuwan Kulasekara's five-wicket haul. Australia, boosted by the return of regular captain Michael Clarke and test stars David Warner and Matthew Wade, crumbled as Kulasekara took 5-22 after the hosts won the toss and elected to bat. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene (1) was dismissed by Clint McKay in the first over before the visitors slumped to 37-4. But despite some spirited bowling from Mitchell Johnson (3-11), the tourists had too many wickets and overs in hand. Angelo Mathews (1-10) had Warner caught in the second over of Australia's innings, then Kulasekara removed opening partner Phil Hughes, David Hussey, George Bailey, Clarke and Moises Henriques in succession to leave the hosts reeling on 30-6. Tailender Mitchell Starc top scored with an unbeaten 22, rescuing Australia from an even more dismal score, having been 40-9. In reply, Sri Lanka lost Jayawardene early, then Johnson removed Tillakaratne Dilshan (22), Lahiru Thirimanne (7) and Mathews (0) in the space of eight balls. Starc had Upul Tharanga caught at first slip by Clarke shortly after for 12 and claimed Jeevan Mendis for 2 in the last over of the match. Kushal Perera ended the game unbeaten on 22 with Thisara Perera on 4. The fourth game of the series will be played Sunday at Sydney. — AP Scoreboard Australia D. Warner c Eranga b Mathews 04 P. Hughes c Jayawardene b K'kara 03 M. Clarke b Kulasekara 09 D. Hussey c K. Perera b K'kara 04 G. Bailey lbw Kulasekara 00 M. Wade c Dilshan b Malinga 08 M. Henriques b Kulasekara 02 M. Johnson b Malinga 02 M. Starc not out 22 C. McKay c K Perera b Malinga 00 X. Doherty c Mendis b Eranga 15 Extras (2lb, 3w) 5 Total (all out; 26.4 overs) 74 Falls: 1-4 (Warner), 2-13 (Hughes), 3-21 (Hussey), 4-21 (Bailey), 5-28 (Clarke), 6-30 (Henriques), 7-35 (Johnson), 8-38 (Wade), 9-40 (McKay). Bowling: Mathews 4-0-10-1, Kulasekara 10-2-22-5, Malinga 7-2-14-3, T. Perera 3-0-14-0, Eranga 2.4-0-12-1. Sri Lanka M. Jayawardene c Warner b McKay 01 T. Dilshan c Clarke b Johnson 22 L. Thirimanne c Warner b Johnson 07 K. Perera not out 22 A. Mathews c Starc b Johnson 00 U. Tharanga c Clarke b Starc 12 J. Mendis c McKay b Starc 02 T. Perera not out 04 Extras (1lb, 1nb, 3w) 05 Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 75 Falls: 1-4 (Jayawardene), 2-33 (Dilshan), 3-37 (Thirimanne), 4-37 (Mathews), 5-63 (Tharanga), 6-71 (Mendis). Bowling: McKay 8-0-31-1, Starc 7-0-25-2, Johnson 3-0-11-3, Moises Henriques 2-0-7-0. Man-of-the-Match: Nuwan Kulasekara.
