Usman Khawaja, Matthew Kuhnemann & Steven Smith. Pic Credits: X

SL vs AUS: Nathan Lyon & Matthew Kuhnemann Spurn A Web & Hand Sri Lanka A Colossal Innings Defeat; Usman Khawaja’s Gritty Double Ton Highlights A Dominant Victory For Aussies

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Australia cricket team continued their dominance in red ball cricket & thrashed Sri Lanka in 1st Test match. The mighty Aussies won the Test match by an innings and 242 runs which is Sri Lanka’s biggest innings defeat till now. Usman Khawaja‘s maiden double ton was quite remarkable due to which the visitors notched up a mammoth 654-6 d. Usman Khawaja was quite proactive and was seen stepping down the crease and took down the attack on spinners audaciously.

Sri Lanka again will have to go back to the drawing board. Before the start of the Muralidaran-Warne Trophy Test series, the island nation were out of the ICC WTC 2023-25 final race but had a chance to win the trophy which now can’t be attained. Since, this is only 2 Test match series, even if Sri Lanka win the next Test match, they won’t retain the trophy as in 2022, Aussies were the holders of the series.

Day 1: Usman Khawaja & Steven Smith pummell tons

Australia skipper Steven Smith had no hesitation in batting first after winning the toss. Australia selection panel had astonishingly dropped Sam Konstas from the playing 11 and promoted the explosive Travis Head to open the batting. Even on a surface where spinners were getting turn, Travis Head was whacking them effortlessly. It looked as if Travis had become invincible as the timing was exquisite so was the stroke-play.

Usman Khawaja didn’t allow the spinners to settle in and looked a lot determined. Usman Khawaja had a forgettable BGT 2024-25 in which he had amassed only 184 runs in 10 innings with a solitary half century. Usman Khawaja along with Travis Head raked up 92 runs opening partnership in just 14.3 overs and created a fear in opposition team.

Australia Batting Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Australia Batting Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Sri Lanka’s left arm off-spinner Prabath Jayasuriya wasn’t able to contain the batters which raised a lot of eye-brows. Prabath Jayasuriya had foxed New Zealand’s batters in 2024 Test series and had taken 18 scalps.

Steven Smith got to a gigantic milestone of 10,000 Test runs. Sri Lanka’s fielding was quite sloppy and it seemed as if the close in fielders weren’t ready to grab the chances which hurted them a lot. Smith & Khawaja deepened the agony of Sri Lanka and made sure that they rotated the strike quite often.

Smith got to his 35th Test ton just before the end of Day 1’s play and his running between the wickets was quite commendable. Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjay de Silva looked a bit clueless as the ultra-attacking approach of visitors came out of the blue. Australia’s score at the end of Day 1 was 330-2 in 81.1 overs as covers were brought on due to rain.

Day 2: Usman Khawaja struck maiden double ton & spinners put Sri Lanka in deep trouble

Usman Khawaja & Steven Smith continued their good work and were involved in a 250 runs partnership. Just after the drinks break, the leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay trapped Smith LBW and was dismissed on 141 runs in 251 balls and had hit 12 fours and 2 sixes. Australia’s score at that time was 401-3 in 99.5 overs.

Josh Inglis, the debutant looked unperturbed against the spinners and was seen dictating the terms. Usman Khawaja from the other end made sure that the scoreboard is ticking around. Australia looked as if they were toying with spinners & were ready for all sort of variations and there was no fear in the visitors.

Sri Lanka Bowling Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo
Sri Lanka Bowling Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo

Usman Khawaja got to his maiden double-ton just before the afternoon session. Usman Khawaja silenced all the critics who wanted him to bid adieu to Test cricket. It looked as if Josh Inglis was batting on a different surface as his shot selection was quite jaw dropping and was quite courageous.

Josh Inglis’ blistering maiden ton floored Sri Lanka & were waiting for him to make a mistake. Prabath Jayasuriya got the better of Josh Inglis but it was a bit too late as Australia’s score at that time was 570-5 in 133 overs. Skipper Steven Smith didn’t declare which was perplexing. Australia declared the innings at a stupendous score of 654-6 in 154 overs.

Sri Lanka had to play a brief yet tricky phase of an hour before the end of Day 2 play. After being in the field for almost 2 days, Sri Lanka’s shoulders were dropping off and looked exhausted. The decision to giving the new ball to Mitchell Starc paid the dividends for Aussies as he got the massive wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne very cheaply.

Matthew Kuhnemann & Nathan Lyon bowled in tandem and made the last hour of Day 2 more hard for the island nation. Sri Lanka were bruised at 44-3 in 15 overs at the end of Day 2 and the experienced veteran duo of Dimuth Karunaratne & Angelo Mathews were back in the dug-out.

Day 3: Sri Lanka fightback in a rain-curtailed day of cricket

The hosts were 410 runs behind on Day 3 and required a monumental effort. Dinesh Chandimal along with Kamindu Mendis showed some resistance.  Mitchell Starc was introduced at the start of the session to create rough for the spinners later in the match. Kamindu Menis couldn’t flick the delivery properly past wicket-keeper Alex Carey and gave a simple regulation catch and was dismissed. It was a kind of a bonus wicket for Mitchell Starc and Australia.

Sri Lanka Batting Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka Batting Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Dinesh Chandimal was fighting a lone battle and perhaps he knew the only way to cut down the deficit is to play attacking brand of cricket and not get into the shell. Skipper Dhananjay de Silva couldn’t gave him the much needed support as their partnership was looking threatening. Sri Lanka’s score at dismissal of Dhananjay de Silva was 107-5. At the brink of lunch session, the rain intervened and it didn’t seemed a passing shower as the remaining 2 sessions were washed out. Sri Lanka’s score at end of Day 3 was 136-5.

Day 4: Matthew Kuhnemann & Nathan Lyon script a sensational win

Despite rain being on the radar for Day 4, there was bright sunshine which gave the visitors a strong chance to assert their dominance.  Sri Lanka not only got bundled out in the morning session but after enforcing follow on they were in tatters after being 3 down for 75 in 17.2 overs. The likes of Dimuth Karunaratne & Angelo Mathews weren’t doing justice to their experience and talent as their dismissals were quite soft which didn’t bode well.

Australia Bowling Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Australia Bowling Line Up 1st Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Nathan Lyon & Matthew Kuhnemann bowled in the same channel of off-side & attacked the stumps again & again which irked the hosts.  Sri Lanka had an improbable task of making Australia bat again after being enforced the follow on and had to first score 489 runs.

Sri Lanka Batting Line Up 2nd Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Sri Lanka Batting Line Up 2nd Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjay de Silva & Kusal Mendis got off to the starts but couldn’t convert into a big one. The positive brand of cricket was seen but they were also playing a bit too many shots. Nathan Lyon & Matthew Kuhnemann got hammered in the afternoon session but they didn’t change their gameplan which yielded them results.

Australia Bowling Line Up 2nd Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo
Australia Bowling Line Up 2nd Innings. Pic Credits: ESPNcricinfo

Jeffrey Vandersay was the lightning spark for Sri Lanka who struck a half-century while batting with the tail-enders and showed a bit hope. Vandersay’s 53 run knock wasn’t ample as Aussies won the match by an innings and 242 runs. Kuhnemann & Lyon took 4 wickets each in 2nd innings and wrapped up the game in ease.

Presentation & Quotes

Steven Smith (*Australia Captain): “I thought we started the Test beautifully, Usman and Travis up top really set the tone. Usman’s innings was outstanding, to get his first double hundred, the way he went about it and the shots he played. The pressure he put on the bowlers was outstanding, and throughout that innings we had plenty of good partnerships. And to get 650 allowed us to bowl twice. Thought Starcy did a tremendous job with the new ball and the spinners did a great job as well. [surface?] I think it broke up as it went on. That first day probably didn’t quite reflect the score perhaps. It was a little bit tacky and still taking some spin. Thought we batted extremely well, and gave us a chance to press the game and get to a position that we wanted to. I thought the bowlers bowled really well in tandem, the beauty of having three frontline spinners is you can just rotate and keep guys as fresh as possible. [10000 runs?] Never thought I’d score this many runs. Thought playing just one Test for Australia was a dream growing up. To have played over a 100 now and scored 10,000 runs it’s a dream come true. And it was nice to contribute in this game as well with a hundred.”

Dhananjay de Silva (*Sri Lanka captain): “[how important is the toss in Galle?] It’s very important. Chasing 600+ runs is not easy. [batters] The wicket was not that hard, but the ball was turning. But the batters have to put their hands up and put the opposition under pressure. [chances not taken?] Yes of course, losing hurts always. We had our chances, reviews and catches dropped. We made chances but never taken. We have to put our bodies on the line and play well. They are champion side, in the WTC final, so we have to up our game for the next Test.”

Usman Khawaja (*Player Of The Match): “It’s just nice to score some runs and contribute to a winning team. Galle’s always a tough place to play for us, so it’s nice to get a good start. [Journey from a month ago] To be honest a month ago I was on the top of the world too, we won 3-1. Cricket is a team game and you want to score all the time, but it’s not always possible. So hopefully when you don’t score someone else does, and when someone else doesn’t you score. That’s the point. That 3-1 against was tough work, we were all very tired. But to come here and start the series off well, we’re very happy. [playing spin] I’ve got my own plans to spin, I’m 38 now this is my 5th trip to Sri Lanka. I’ve made all the mistakes I know I can make, I know there are certain ways I’m happy to get out and certain ways I’m not. I just work around that, that’s the most important thing,”

What lies ahead for Sri Lanka & Australia

The 2nd Test match is scheduled on 6th February at the same venue Galle. Dhananjay de Silva pointed out winning toss is crucial in Galle; but we should not forget that occupying the crease and playing positive cricket is much more crucial than winning the toss. This can prove out to be a last Test match for Angelo Mathews & Dimuth Karunaratne if they don’t get a big score under their belt as they are already at the back end of the career.

Australia would be over the moon with their performance as they almost ticked all the boxes in the game. There are chances that Scott Boland will get a chance in 2nd Test match to manage the workload of Mitchell Starc ahead of ICC CT 2025. Aussies would be well aware of the fact that they have a golden chance of winning Test series in Sri Lanka after 2011.

Also Read: SL vs AUS: Rain Plays Spoil Sport Before Australia Take 2 Wickets & Put Sri Lankan Batters In A State Of Bother


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