Sri Lanka rest spinner for easy win

Jayasuriya was put at the helm as the tourists opted to rest skipper Arjuna Ranatunga and also controversial off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan who has been at the centre of storm over his unusual bowling action.

Jayasuriya opened the batting and scored a thrilling 86 from 62 balls in the Sri Lankan innings of 285 from 49.3 overs.

The World Cup champions appeared set for a huge score when they reached 5-244 after 40 overs but lost their last five wickets for just 41 runs.

Offspinner David Wrixon was the pick of the Australian XI bowlers finishing with 2-46 after 10 overs.

The Australian Country XI were always behind in their run chase but wicketkeeper Simon Moore did best with 48 runs as his team was bowled out for 222 in 48.4 overs.

In a twist to the Muralitharan affair, cricket's governing body, the International Cricket Council, revealed that the Sri Lankan offspinner's bowling action had not been reported this tour.

However, South African match referee Peter van der Merwe clearly said on ABC Radio on Friday he would be bringing the natter up with the ICC.

Muralitharan was no-balled for throwing by three Australian umpires on Sri Lanka's previous tour three years ago and Australia's top umpire Darrell Hair faces charges of bringing the game into disrepute for describing his action as ``diabolical'' in a book.