SL vs AUS 1st Test Day 1 Highlights: Steve Smith stood unbeaten on 104 after crossing 10,000 Test runs and helped Australia pummel Sri Lanka alongside fellow centurion Usman Khawaja on day one of the opening Test on Wednesday. Australia reached 330-2 in 81.1 overs when rain stopped play for the day after the tourists elected to bat first in Galle at the start of the two-match series. Left-handed opener Khawaja, on 147, and skipper Smith put on an unbeaten stand of 195 to thwart the opposition attack in two wicketless afternoon sessions. (Scorecard)
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (capt.), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Mathew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy
Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
SL vs AUS, 1st Test Day 1 Highlights
-
!
The players are out in the middle. Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando are the openers for Sri Lanka while Mitchell Starc will start off proceedings against Oshada. Here we go...
-
!
... SRI LANKA'S FIRST INNINGS ...
-
!
Around 23 overs left in the day. How many inroads can Australia make? Can Sri Lanka see off the day as the first priority? The second innings is about to begin.
-
!
A really tough outing for Sri Lanka. When you have to bowl first on a track like Galle, you have to be on the mark. That they were. You have to take your chances. That they didn't. First, they were shocked to see Travis Head taking them on and then, as the innings grew on, mistakes started to creep in and affected their bowling and fielding. Prabath Jayasuriya and Jeffrey Vandersay stood out, sharing all the 6 wickets between themselves, taking 3 apiece. Jayasuriya bowled like a marathon man, bowling 60 out of his team's 154 overs, as with Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis unfit to bowl and Angelo Mathews reluctant to bowl, the team was left with only 4 bowling options.
-
!
Crucially, for Australia, there were decent partnerships all the way through, with the 23-run stand between Josh Inglis and Alex Carey being the lowest in the inning. After electing to bat, they could not have asked for a better surface, with the pitch being extremely flat and lots of luck loaded in the batter's favour. Things could have been different had catches been held and reviews been taken at the right time, but that's why luck is so important. Usman Khawaja marked his comeback to form as he scored his first Test ton in 18 months, reaching his first ever double Test century. He got plenty of lives in his 232 and really lived like a cat.
-
!
It will be an understatement to say that Australia batted well. Barring Marnus Labuschagne and Beau Webster, everyone who batted and got out, made at least 50. The innings was studded with three centurions - Usman Khawaja (232), captain Steven Smith (141) and debutant Josh Inglis (102). The innings was given a headstart by Travis Head, who enjoyed his promotion to the top, smashing 57 in just 40 balls while everyone who batted, in the top 7, spent enough time to play out at least 40 balls.
-
!
Starc takes the single but keeps running towards the dressing room. That's it. AUSTRALIA HAVE DECLARED ON 654/6. Technically, 25 overs are left in the day, but don't think we will get all of those in. Guess Smith feels that with the light fading and the close of the day's play approaching, this is the right time to catch the Lankan batters off guard.
-
153.61Nishan Peiris to Mitchell Starc
Full, outside off, Starc gives himself room to the leg side and hammers it wide of long off. It goes on the bounce to the fielder. A single taken.
-
153.50Nishan Peiris to Mitchell Starc
Down the leg side, Starc looks to slog but misses and is hit on the pads.
-
153.40Nishan Peiris to Mitchell Starc
On middle, pushed to the leg side.
-
153.34Nishan Peiris to Mitchell Starc
FOUR! SMASH! Tee time. Full, outside off, the angle bringing the ball into the left-hander from around the wicket, Mitchell Starc uses the angle, gets down on a knee and slogs it through mid-wicket. 650 UP FOR AUSTRALIA!
-
153.21Nishan Peiris to Alex Carey
Very full, outside off, Alex Carey reaches out and drives it through mid off for a run.
-
153.11Nishan Peiris to Mitchell Starc
Around off, punched through the covers for a single.
-
152.60Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
On middle and leg, nudged to the leg side.
-
152.50Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
Full, around leg stump, now Alex attempts the sweep but misses and is hit on the pads. A mild LBW appeal by Vandersay but that seemed to be spinning down the leg side.
-
152.42Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
Full, around leg stump, Alex Carey plays the reverse sweep. The keeper, Kusal Mendis, anticipates brilliantly, getting across to his left, but the ball goes past him to the deep third fence. It is stopped and the batters come back for the second.
-
152.30Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
Down the leg side, Carey works it towards square leg.
-
152.20Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
Way too full, outside off, driven back to the bowler.
-
152.10Jeffrey Vandersay to Alex Carey
Full, around middle and leg, pushed back down the track.
-
!
This is now the second highest score in an inning of a Test in Galle. Bangladesh's 638 against Sri Lanka in 2013 stood in that spot for quite a long time. The highest score might still stay the highest - 704/3 declared by the Lankans themselves against Ireland, in 2023.