Australia continues its dominance in the 2nd Test match of Warne-Muralidaran Test series. Matthew Kuhnemann spurn a web across Sri Lankan batters along with Nathan Lyon. Sri Lanka has got only a mere 54 runs lead with only 2 wickets in hand and 2 days left in the game. There is some hope in the form of Kusal Mendis who is nearing 50 but it would be an arduous task for him to get Sri Lanka to 3 figure mark.
Prabath Jayasuriya bundles Australia’s batting unit in morning session
Steven Smith & Alex Carey were looking ominous with Australia’s score 330-3 in 80 overs at the end of Day 2 play. The second new ball was taken after a solitary delivery of the session. Prabath Jayasuriya was bowling in the rough region and extracted a lot of turn & bounce from the surface.
At one stage, Australia’s score was 350-3 in 84.2 overs and the lead was 93 runs & both Smith & Carey were cruising. Prabath Jayasuriya enticed Steven Smith to step down and play a lofted shot but couldn’t connect properly and gave a catch to Kusal Mendis. Smith was dismissed on 131 runs in 254 balls and struck 10 fours and 1 six.
The dismissal of Steven Smith changed the complexion of the match, from 350-3, Australia fell like a pack of cards for 414. Alex Carey registered the highest score by an Australian wicket-keeper in Asia surpassing Adam Gilchrist’s record of 144 in 2004 against Sri Lanka. Beau Webster played a handy knock of 31 runs. Australia got a sizeable 1st innings lead of 157 runs. Prabath Jayasuriya was the wrecker in chief who took 5 wickets and conceded 151 runs in 38 overs.
Sri Lanka’s batters tatter against spin in afternoon session
Matthew Kuhnemann was on song in afternoon session as he was getting awkward bounce & turn from the surface. Dimuth Karunaratne who was playing his 100th Test match was undone by Kuhnemann when he nicked the delivery to Carey. Karunaratne got standing ovation from crowd as the batter had announced earlier that he would bid adieu to cricket.
The island nation batters’ perhaps weren’t ready for the uphill challenge. Nathan Lyon & Matthew Kuhnemann looked as if they were used to bowl on rank turners. There were soft dismissals of Dinesh Chandimal & Kamindu Mendis as their shot selection was quite questionable given the fact that it was Day 3 of Test match & the pitch was no less than minefield. Sri Lanka’s score at the end of afternoon session was 98-4 in 33 overs and were 59 runs behind. Kuhnemann & Lyon took 2 wickets each & were bowling stump to stump.
Australia inch closer to Test win despite Angelo Mathews’ resilience
The evening session proved to be quite eventful for both Australia & Sri Lanka. Matthew Kuhnemann & Nathan Lyon had to toil a lot for taking wickets. The partnership between Angelo Mathews & Kusal Mendis gave a ray of hope to the hosts as the 1st innings deficit was cut and the lead was building up. A rash pull shot on the bowling of Nathan Lyon by Mathews to deep fine leg fielder Beau Webster ended a hard fought knock of 76 runs. It was a short delivery but a wild slog to deep fine leg put Sri Lanka in a state of deep trouble at 198-6.
Beau Webster who is pacer was seen bowling spin bowling and stunned everyone by taking wicket of Ramesh Mendis as well. Just at the end of Day 3, Prabath Jayasuriya was caught by Smith in 1st slip & Kuhnemann had 4 wickets to his name for 52 runs in 20.1 overs. Sri Lanka’s score at the end of Day 3 is 211-8 with a lead of 54 runs and Kusal Mendis unbeaten on 48 runs.
What lies ahead on Day 4 for Sri Lanka & Australia
Sri Lanka would be hoping for a batting masterclass from Kusal Mendis and take their lead close to 150 which looks unrealistic to happen. Sri Lanka have got themselves to blame for yet another batting failure despite having so many experienced batters in the batting line up.
Matthew Kuhnemann would be eyeing a well deserving 5 wicket haul on Day 4. Smith gave only a 2 over spell to Cooper Connolly despite being a spin bowling all-rounder which is a mystery. Australia would be eyeing to win Test match in morning session itself and win Test series in Sri Lanka after 2011.