Melbourne, Dec 27: Skipper Michael Clarke further embellished his passing of Ricky Ponting's Australian calendar year scoring record with a ton against Sri Lanka in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Clarke hit a fine leg boundary off the last ball before mid-afternoon drinks to raise his 22nd Test century as Australia tightened the screws on the hapless Sri Lankans on the second day of the Test.  He was out soon after for 106 when he was caught by rival skipper Mahela Jayawardene in the slips off Shaminda Eranga in the middle session.  Clarke took his total runs for this year to 1,595 at 113.92 in Australia's final Test match for 2012. The Australian captain began the Melbourne Test needing 56 runs to break Ponting's previous national record of 1,544 runs in a calendar year.
It continued an extraordinary year for the 31-year-old, who scored 329 not out against India in Sydney last January, along with three double centuries and his latest ton.  The Australian skipper, who was in doubt ahead of the Boxing Day Test with a hamstring injury, had a let-off in Rangana Herath's 17th over when Kumar Sangakkara missed a tough stumping chance on 54.
He was also dropped by Tillakaratne Dilshan on five late on Wednesday's opening day. AFP

Lastupdate on : Thu, 27 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
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