Usman Khawaja & Steven Smith. Pic Credits: X

SL vs AUS : Usman Khawaja 147*, Steven Smith 104* Put Australia In A Dominating Position In Galle On Day 1

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Australian opener Usman Khawaja bounced back to form with a sublime century on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, January 29 at Galle International Stadium, Galle. Usman Khawaja reached his 16th Test century during the second session of the day, ending his 19-month-long drought for a triple-figure score. The opener Usman Khawaja scored his last hundred during the first Test of the Ashes 2023 at Edgbaston.

Following his magnificent ton, Usman Khawaja became the sixth Australian opener to score a century in Sri Lanka. Centuries from Usman Khawaja (147*) and Steve Smith (104*) have given Australia an early advantage in the first Test after Day 1 in Galle.

The platform for the two batters was set up by Travis Head in the first hour of play where he blazed his way to a 35-ball 50. Sri Lanka just did not turn up on Day 1 and will have themselves to blame, having let go of multiple opportunities to see the back of Khawaja in particular. Australia ended Day 1 on 330/2 at Stumps.

Pitch Report and Toss

Pitch report: “There has been rain over the past few days and the biggest challenge for the curator was to keep it dry. Very little grass, there’s some moisture underneath. They had to get the fans and UV light out to try and dry it. Around 270-300 will be a good 1st innings score. In Galle, it’s always going to be spin to win” says Farveez Maharoof.

Toss : Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat with three spinners and one pacer in the playing XI and Josh Inglis making his debut in tests. Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya De Silva who also wanted to bat first went with three spinners and one pacer in the playing XI with Angelo Mathews available to bowl.

Day 1 : Morning Session : Rampant Travis Head and Usman Khawaja scores fifties in Australia’s quick start.

Half centuries by Usman Khawaja (65*) and Travis Head (57) ensured Australia took an early advantage on the first morning of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. On a pitch with assistance for the spinners, the openers brought up a 92-run opening stand with Head being the aggressor. Stalwart Steve Smith brought up 10,000 Test runs towards the end of the session after he was dismissed on 9,999 by Prasidh Krishna in Sydney.

Australia, having made a change to their openers with Head partnering Usman Khawaja, were off the blocks in a flash after opting to bat. Asitha Fernando erred in line in the first over and was made to pay by the former who dispatched him for three fours. The rollicking start allowed Usman Khawaja to be more circumspect in his approach after his recent struggles in the format.

The batters dispatched Asitha for three more boundaries in his third over but Head survived a LBW call on 23 after the hosts didn’t opt to use DRS, as ball-tracking showed three reds. Sri Lanka turned to spin from ends as early as the sixth over with the introduction of Prabath Jayasuriya. But Head continued to find the boundaries off the spinners as the visitors brought up the 50 within the ninth over. Nishan Peiris from the other end too was subject to the onslaught with sixes from both the batters.

Head brought up his fifty off just 35 balls with a single down to long-on. Australia began to get adventurous with a reverse sweep from Usman Khawaja while Head dispatched Peiris over his head. The latter finally holed out to long-on off Jayasuriya but only after giving the tourists a fantastic start.

Jayasuriya began to bowl slower to get more turn off the pitch as the scoring slowed down from the Australians. Jeffrey Vandersay also got one to spin from outside leg stump as the ‘keeper collected it outside off-stump. Usman Khawaja slowly worked his way to 50 but survived a few overs later after he was dropped at slip. But Vandersay struck from the other end after Dhananjaya de Silva held on to an edge off Labuschagne on the stroke of Lunch.

Smith got off the mark first ball to bring up 10,000 Test runs. He should have been dismissed a few balls later after Jayasuriya spilled a catch off his own bowling an over before Lunch.

It was a tumultuous session for the hosts as nothing went their way but it all began with Travis Head in the morning session. He got Australia off to a rollicking start as he dispatched Asitha Fernando for three fours in the opening over. Usman Khawaja and Head scored three more boundaries off Asitha in his third over but Head survived an LBW call on 23 after the hosts didn’t opt to use DRS, as ball-tracking showed three reds.

Head brought up his fifty off just 35 balls with a single down to long-on. Australia began to get adventurous with a reverse sweep from Khawaja while Head dispatched Peiris over his head. The latter finally holed out to long-on off Jayasuriya but only after giving the tourists a fantastic start. Khawaja nurdled his way to 50 but survived a few overs later after he was dropped at slip.

However, in one of the few joyous moments for Sri Lanka, Vandersay struck from the other end after Dhananjaya de Silva held on to an edge off Labuschagne on the stroke of Lunch.

Day 1 : Post Lunch Session : Usman Khawaja slams ton as Sri Lanka continue to toil

Australia continued to boss the opening day of the first Test in Galle, led by Usman Khawaja’s (119*) 16th Test century. The left-hander was well accompanied by Steve Smith, who himself ended the second session unbeaten on 64, in a fourth-wicket partnership of 126 runs. In what was a flawless session for the visitors, Australia scored 116 runs without losing any wickets.

Immediately after the Lunch break, Smith gave charge to Prabath Jayasuriya and cleared the ropes. The two batters were very confident with their defence, comfortably getting forward or going back in the crease and placing the ball in the gaps. They also pounced on any overpitched deliveries by the Sri Lankan spinners.

It further frustrated the visitors after a tough opening session. Similar to that period, Sri Lanka missed another opportunity to review and this time see the back of Usman Khawaja on 74 after a faint nick to the ‘keeper was not given out by the umpire.

Eight overs into the session, Smith switched gears, making full use of Jeffrey Vandersay’s erring lines on both sides of the stumps with three boundaries. He continued to make it look easy against Jayasuriya with a flick for four over a vacant mid-wicket region.

Usman Khawaja, meanwhile, continued to unfurl the reverse sweep and then caressed one through extra-cover for four as he moved into the nineties. Usman Khawaja survived an edge which lobbed over the wicketkeeper’s head as Sri Lanka continued to fail to latch onto chances. Smith brought up his 50 with a single towards mid-wicket before Usman Khawaja reached his century with a flick to fine-leg for four.

Usman Khawaja looked determined to make Sri Lanka regret their mistake as he found an able partner in Steve Smith and the duo began to frustrate Sri Lanka in the middle. In the second session, Smith took the aggressive route while Usman Khawaja played second fiddle and continued to rotate strike while finding occasional boundaries. He finally reached his hundred off 135 balls as he flicked Fernando for a boundary towards fine leg.

Steve Smith also brought up his fifty off just 57 balls, sucking the juice out of the Sri Lankan bowlers. Smith and Usman Khawaja got involved in an unbeaten 126-run stand for the third wicket as Australia went into tea on 261/2 with Khawaja (119*) and Smith (64*) well-set at the crease.

Day 1 : Afternoon Session : Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith tons put Australia in command

Centuries from Usman Khawaja (147*) and Steve Smith (104*) have given Australia an early advantage in the first Test after Day 1 in Galle. The platform for the two batters was set up by Travis Head in the first hour of play where he blazed his way to a 35-ball 50. Sri Lanka just did not turn up on Day 1 and will have themselves to blame, having let go of multiple opportunities to see the back of Khawaja in particular. Australia ended Day 1 on 330/2 at Stumps.

The real damage to Sri Lanka was inflicted in the first two sessions, firstly thanks to Head. He got Australia off to a rollicking start as he dispatched Asitha Fernando for three fours in the opening over. Khawaja and Head scored three more boundaries off Asitha in his third over but Head survived a LBW call on 23 after the hosts didn’t opt to use DRS, as ball-tracking showed three reds. He finally holed out to long-on after a 40-ball 57 to give some respite to Sri Lanka.

Khawaja nurdled his way to 50 but survived a few overs later after he was dropped at slip. However, in one of the few joyous moments for Sri Lanka, Vandersay struck from the other end after Dhananjaya de Silva held on to an edge off Labuschagne two overs before Lunch. But an over later, Prabath Jayasuriya dropped Smith off his own bowling after he brought up 10,000 runs.

The Australians continued to show their intent after Lunch as Smith gave charge to Prabath Jayasuriya and cleared the ropes. Similar to the first session, Sri Lanka missed another opportunity to review and this time see the back of Khawaja on 74 after a faint nick to the ‘keeper was not given out by the umpire.

Smith switched gears making full use of Jeffrey Vandersay erring in line on both sides of the stumps with three boundaries. He continued to make it look easy against Jayasuriya with a flick for four over the vacant mid-wicket region. Khawaja, meanwhile, unfurled the reverse sweep and then caressed one through extra-cover for four as he moved into the nineties.

The left-hander survived an edge which lobbed over the wicketkeeper’s head as Sri Lanka continued to fail in converting their chances. Smith brought up his 50 with a single towards mid-wicket before Khawaja brought up his century with a flick to fine-leg for four.

After two grueling sessions of play for the Sri Lankans, their spinners stuck to bowling lines outside the leg-stump. It seemed like a ploy of hope from the Sri Lankan spinners, waiting for the set batters to make a mistake. But it was rendered ineffective as Smith was content by padding the balls away. Jayasuriya did take the edge of Khawaja but the batter’s slog-sweep fell safely near deep square-leg.

It was slow scoring during this period of play as the batters were content with just rotating strike, and it was a period where Australia didn’t score a boundary for 100 deliveries until the 75th over. Smith then got to his ton with a three after punching the ball towards cover – his 35th Test ton. However, the rain came down an over after the hosts took the new ball, after which Stumps was called shortly.

Road Ahead on Day 2 for Australia and Sri Lanka

Australia’s Usman Khawaja smashed a fine century on Day 1 of the opening Test versus Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium, Galle. Khawaja got to the landmark during the 2nd session of the day’s play. He shared a solid 92-run stand for the opening wicket alongside Travis Head before stitching 43 runs with Marnus Labuschagne. Alongside Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja has deflated the Lankans.

Usman Khawaja played the supporting role in an aggressive stand with Head, who hit a rapid half-century. The former continued to held his fort and built another stand alongside Labuschagne, who perished before lunch. Smith came in and the two have now added 100-plus runs for the 3rd wicket. Usman Khawaja got to his hundred from 135 balls in the 49th over.

A defiant Usman Khawaja smashed his 16th century in Tests. He also owns 27 fifties. He owns over 5,730 runs at 44-plus. As per ESPNCricinfo, in nine matches versus Sri Lanka (15 innings), Usman Khawaja owns over 460 runs at 42-plus. This was his 2nd Test ton against Sri Lanka (50: 1). Usman Khawaja is also getting closer to 2,500 runs in away Tests (100s: 6).

Usman Khawaja has gone past 14,621 runs in First-Class cricket at 43-plus. This was his 42nd century in FC cricket. He also owns 71 fifties. His best score reads 214. Usman Khawaja ended his barren run in Tests. Before today’s heroics, his last century in Tests came in June 2023 versus England in Birmingham. Since then, he failed to hit a ton in 33 Test innings. He hit six fifties during this phase.

It was inevitable once the rain came and the entire ground was covered. A dominant day for Australia. They have made Sri Lanka toil hard and the hosts have just two wickets to show for. No wickets after lunch. Head started off in his usual aggressive mode by slamming three fours off Asitha Fernando in the first over of the match.

He got to his fifty and then holed out to long-on in trying to hit Prabath Jayasuriya for six. Khawaja who was content to play second-fiddle then became the aggressor as Labuschagne struggled against Vandersay. Just before lunch the leggie got Marnus and that’s when Smith came out. He got to his 10,000 Test run off his first delivery and from then on it was one-way traffic. Sri Lanka tried everything, Asitha with the short ball tactic, Jayasuriya with a negative over the wicket line to the right-hander but nothing worked.

A wicketless middle session followed as Australia piled on the runs. And the pattern continued in the final session before rain came and forced an early stumps with almost 9 overs to go. Usman Khawaja put the Bumrah horrors behind him to rack up his 5th Test ton in Asia and he was particularly good against spin using the reverse-sweep to great effect.

Smith meanwhile made it look easy after being dropped on 1. Sri Lanka had chances to get Usman Khawaja multiple times but did not take them. They did not review as well when he was out caught behind. All those mistakes have been made to pay big by the Aussies. With the pitch expected to deteriorate Australia will be looking to pile on as many as they can.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights

 


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