Galle: Spinner Nathan Lyon took nine wickets in the match Australia Friday ended with a crushing win in the opening Test over Sri Lanka Before lunch on the third day.
The hosts were bundled out for 113 in their second innings, helping Australia register a 10-wicket win in their first over at the crease. Galle,
Lyon, whose five-wicket haul helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 212 in the first innings, and fellow spinner Travis Head took four wickets each to send the hosts off before the end of the morning.
It was a big win for Australia, who suffered a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 2016.
Captain Pat Cummins said, “Amazing win. Waking up this morning I didn’t think it was going to happen that fast.”
“Really proud of the squad. It’s a really foreign situation for us.”
Openers Usman Khawaja (71) and Cameron Green (77) stood out in Australia’s first innings effort of 321 which took them under control in extreme spin conditions.
Green formed a crucial partnership with Khawaja and then wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey, who scored 45, to handle the spinners perfectly.
Of the 23-year-old Green, who was named man of the match, Cummins said, “Players go through their entire careers looking for a method in these conditions, and in their first innings they found it.”
“Really happy for him, that was the difference.”
Sri Lanka suffered a setback ahead of the start of the game when Angelo Mathews was dropped due to Covid-19, with Oshada Fernando named as his replacement.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne made a strong start in the first over of the innings, hitting four fours in his 17-run knock off Mitchell Starc.
But the situation soon turned when Lyon and fellow spinner Mitchell Swepson took over.
Lyon caught captain Karunaratne for 23 runs in just 20 balls, while Swepson dismissed Patham Nissanka lbw for 14 runs.
Oshada was then caught by the leg-spinner in the 12th over as Sri Lanka slipped to 63-4.
The wickets of the Sri Lankan batsmen kept falling and were trying their best to get out of trouble.
Head, a left-handed batsman and an occasional spinner, struck twice in his first over to claim Dinesh Chandimal – his maiden Test scalp – and Dhananjay de Silva.
Opener David Warner eased the formalities by hitting a four and a six off Ramesh Mendis and took the win off four balls.
Earlier in the day, pacer Asitha Fernando took the last two wickets of Australia’s first innings as the tourists added eight to their overnight 313 to take a commanding lead of 109.
Ramesh Mendis took four wickets while debutant Jeffrey Vandersay took two wickets.
“We bowled well in the patch. I think Ramesh bowled really well, but others couldn’t support him,” Karunaratne said.
The captain said it was difficult to bat against Lyon, who managed to swing the ball hard.
“We just wanted to put pressure on him and play some shots.
“The approach was really good, the intention was really good, but I think sometimes we made the wrong decisions.”
The third day began on Thursday after a game delayed by inclement weather, with strong winds collapsing the spectators’ stand.
The second and final Test will start from July 8 at the same venue.
The hosts were bundled out for 113 in their second innings, helping Australia register a 10-wicket win in their first over at the crease. Galle,
Lyon, whose five-wicket haul helped bowl Sri Lanka out for 212 in the first innings, and fellow spinner Travis Head took four wickets each to send the hosts off before the end of the morning.
It was a big win for Australia, who suffered a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 2016.
Captain Pat Cummins said, “Amazing win. Waking up this morning I didn’t think it was going to happen that fast.”
“Really proud of the squad. It’s a really foreign situation for us.”
Openers Usman Khawaja (71) and Cameron Green (77) stood out in Australia’s first innings effort of 321 which took them under control in extreme spin conditions.
Green formed a crucial partnership with Khawaja and then wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey, who scored 45, to handle the spinners perfectly.
Of the 23-year-old Green, who was named man of the match, Cummins said, “Players go through their entire careers looking for a method in these conditions, and in their first innings they found it.”
“Really happy for him, that was the difference.”
Sri Lanka suffered a setback ahead of the start of the game when Angelo Mathews was dropped due to Covid-19, with Oshada Fernando named as his replacement.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne made a strong start in the first over of the innings, hitting four fours in his 17-run knock off Mitchell Starc.
But the situation soon turned when Lyon and fellow spinner Mitchell Swepson took over.
Lyon caught captain Karunaratne for 23 runs in just 20 balls, while Swepson dismissed Patham Nissanka lbw for 14 runs.
Oshada was then caught by the leg-spinner in the 12th over as Sri Lanka slipped to 63-4.
The wickets of the Sri Lankan batsmen kept falling and were trying their best to get out of trouble.
Head, a left-handed batsman and an occasional spinner, struck twice in his first over to claim Dinesh Chandimal – his maiden Test scalp – and Dhananjay de Silva.
Opener David Warner eased the formalities by hitting a four and a six off Ramesh Mendis and took the win off four balls.
Earlier in the day, pacer Asitha Fernando took the last two wickets of Australia’s first innings as the tourists added eight to their overnight 313 to take a commanding lead of 109.
Ramesh Mendis took four wickets while debutant Jeffrey Vandersay took two wickets.
“We bowled well in the patch. I think Ramesh bowled really well, but others couldn’t support him,” Karunaratne said.
The captain said it was difficult to bat against Lyon, who managed to swing the ball hard.
“We just wanted to put pressure on him and play some shots.
“The approach was really good, the intention was really good, but I think sometimes we made the wrong decisions.”
The third day began on Thursday after a game delayed by inclement weather, with strong winds collapsing the spectators’ stand.
The second and final Test will start from July 8 at the same venue.