Adelaide, Mar 8: Australia clinched the cricket tri-series title as they relied on a spirited bowling display to beat Sri Lanka by 16 runs in a low-scoring thriller here today.
After posting 231 all out on a difficult Adelaide Oval track, the hosts rode on pacer Clint McKay's five-for to stop Sri Lanka at 215 in the third and deciding final.
Upul Tharanga hit 71 to help the islanders recovered from early jolts and almost put his side on track for a win but the Sri Lankans lost the plot after his dismissal to give the Australians a victory with seven balls to spare.
McKay was Australia's hero, making a critical 28 batting at number nine and then claiming five for 28 which broke the visitors' back.
The Sri Lankan top order failed and hard as the other batsmen rallied, it was not enough to win them the day. They lost too many wickets up front and were 53 for four in the first powerplay of 10 overs itself.
Brett Lee (3 for 59) and McKay wreaked havoc in this period by sharing these wickets and leaving too much for the rest of the batters to achieve in the remaining overs.
Tillakaratne Dilshan (8) got a leading edge while trying to work a delivery on the onside in Lee's second over and fell to a soft dismissal, caught in the covers, in the third over.
Kumar Sangakkara (19) was off the block in a jiffy, striking three fours in his nine balls, before he became Lee's second victim, driving a catch to slips in the seventh over.
Things were only to turn worse as McKay claimed two wickets in seven balls to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 53 for four. He first won a LBW shout against Dinesh Chandimal (5) and in his next over, cleaned up skipper Mahela Jayawardene (15), who played down the wrong line and having his stumps in a disarray.
