The outpouring of emotion at the WACA on Friday made Adam Gilchrist realise the end of his record-breaking career was near. Gilchrist, who will retire at the conclusion of CB Series, waved goodbye to his home crowd in Perth with a fine 118 in the 63-run win over Sri Lanka and listened to chants of "Gilly, Gilly" throughout the match.
"Today was where it really hit me, that it is all finishing," he told AFP on Friday night. "Today was always going to be a big day, so I was more nervous than any day, leading into here. I am glad it is done ... there was a lot of emotion in there."
Gilchrist did not have much time to enjoy the moment as the Australians flew from Perth to Adelaide on Saturday for Sunday's match against India. Brett Lee will miss the contest to rest after a busy campaign.
"It's a difficult schedule this one, not playing for four days and then playing back-to-back," Gilchrist said. "There is a lot of downtime between the Sunday and Friday games and maybe all of us have struggled on the back of an intense Test series."
The victory eased the pressure on Australia, who top the tri-series table, but Gilchrist said there was no room for complacency. "If we drop one," he said, "we'll be back in the same position."