Brad Hogg is bowling at the peak of his powers, according to Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who is elated with the left-arm wrist spinner's form at the World Cup.
Hogg's happy knack of taking important wickets continued against Sri Lanka when, after a third wicket stand of 140 between skipper Mahela Jayawardene (72) and Chamara Silva (64), the former postman removed both men.
The 36-year-old Western Australian also held his nerve after being attacked early on to finish with an economical 2 for 35 from his 10 overs.
Hogg, who rose to prominence at the 2003 World Cup after Shane Warne's shock withdrawal for a doping offence, now stands fifth in this tournament's bowling averages with 15 wickets at an average of just over 17 apiece.
This compares well with a haul of 13 at 24 during the whole of the last edition in southern Africa.
"Right through the middle period I always felt he was going to be our best wicket-taking option which is why I kept him going," Ponting explained after a seven-wicket victory which saw Australia, the only team with a 100 per cent record at this event, stretch its overall World Cup unbeaten run to 26 games.
"He's bowled beautifully through the tournament, bowling as well now as he ever has and he's beating a lot of batsmen with his variations.
"He's taking a lot of wickets with his 'wrong-un' and he's bowling it very well. More importantly, he's probably thinking through his bowling a lot better now than he ever has.
"He's using his variations very well and at the right times which he probably didn't always do."
Hogg provided the spark for a middle-order collapse which saw Sri Lanka, like Australia already qualified for the semi-finals, lose four wickets for 16 runs.
"We took those four wickets in next to no time and really slowed down their run-rate and scoring," Ponting said.
Left-arm quick Nathan Bracken, rested from the nine-wicket thrashing of minnows Ireland to give Stuart Clark a game, enjoyed success at both ends of the innings on Monday on his way to an impressive return of 4 for 19.
Australians occupy four of the top seven spots in the World Cup bowling standings.
Fast bowler Glenn McGrath, in his final competition before retirement, heads the list with 20 wickets at 14.15.
The World Cup's all-time leading wicket-taker is now just three short of the tournament record of 23 set by Sri Lanka left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas, controversially omitted Wednesday, four years ago.
In second place is express quick Shaun Tait, with 16 wickets at 22.12 while Bracken lies seventh having taken 14 wickets at a miserly 13 apiece.
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