Play will start 15 minutes early tomorrow, with 98 overs to be bowled. Angus Fontaine will be back then, and we’ll also have live coverage of the pink-ball Test at the MCG. Until then, goodnight.
Stumps
The covers are still on and the umpires have called play off for the day. It’s been a brilliant start to the series for Australia, who won an important toss and took full advantage.
Travis Head set the tone as only he can, larruping 57 from 40 balls in an opening stand of 92 in just 14.3 overs. Marnus Labuschagne missed out but Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith batted with a serene ruthlessness to make excellent centuries. Khawaja reverse swept with aplomb and Smith was in almost complete control.
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This week’s Spin is about a boy called Rocky
“I’m sure I saw Psycho Scumbag Chatbots! perform at Selina’s Coogee Bay around 1984,” says Steve Williams. “New wave punk metal… from hazy memory.”
Their drummer was in The Fall for a couple of years until Mark E Smith attacked him with a lit fag.
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Rain stops play
81.1 overs: Australia 330-2 (Khawaja 147, Smith 104) The heavens have opened and the players are leaving the field. It looks reasonably heavy so that might be it for the day.
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81st over: Australia 330-2 (Khawaja 147, Smith 104) Khawaja lashes a reverse sweep for four off Jayasuriya, then survives an LBW appeal after missing an orthodox sweep. It would have turned past leg stump.
Four singles make it a very good over for Australia, eight from it.
80th over: Australia 322-2 (Khawaja 142, Smith 102) Eleven of Khawaja’s 16 Test hundreds have been 140+. He hasn’t hit a boundary since the 58th over but has shown precisely no sign of getting bored or impatient.
Two runs from Peiris’s over, at the end of which the fourth umpire runs on with the second new ball.
79th over: Australia 320-2 (Khawaja 141, Smith 101) Jayasuriya replaces Vandersay, who bowled a weary spell of 5-0-26-0. He goes around the wicket to Smith this time, presumably in preparation for the second new ball; there’s no value in lobbing that outside leg stump.
Khawaja reverse sweeps a single, the only run from the over. Jayasuriya has easily been the most accurate of the Sri Lanka bowlers.
78th over: Australia 319-2 (Khawaja 140, Smith 101) Khawaja and Smith are making this look so easy, and after a period of stalemate the runs are starting to come more easily; they’ve scored 29 in the last five overs.
Steve Smith's 35th Test hundred!
77.2 overs: Australia 316-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 100) There it is! Smith punches Peiris off the back for three to bring up a clinical century, his 35th in Tests. It felt almost inevitable from the very first ball, when he got the run he needed to reach 10,000 in Tests. It’s also Smith’s 16th hundred as captain and his first since the Boxing Day Test of 2017; only Graeme Smith, Virat Kohli and Ricky Ponting have more.
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Drinks: Australia in total control
77th over: Australia 313-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 97) A long hop from Vandersay is carted through midwicket for four by Smith, who moves into the nineties. He’s starting to flow now. Two balls later he works a dipping full toss to the same part of the boundary, and a single off the last ball allows him to keep strike. He’s three away from Test hundred No35.
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76th over: Australia 304-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 88) Peiris switches back around the wicket to Smith, but it has a deckchairs-on-the-Titanic feel to it. Khawaja and Smith take two singles apiece, making it 14 from three overs since Jayasuriya went off.
75th over: Australia 300-2 (Khawaja 136, Smith 86) Smith hits his first boundary in 25 overs. It would have been rude not to as it was a rank bad ball from Vandersay that Smith helped on its way to fine leg. A single from Khawaja, who is inching towards another big hundred, brings up Australia’s 300.
74th over: Australia 294-2 (Khawaja 135, Smith 81) Peiris replaces Jayasuriya, who bowled an economical but unthreatening spell of 11-6-16-0. That should increase the scoring rate, even if it just means more singles rather than a flurry of boundaries.
Indeed it does, with Peiris’s first four deliveries all worked for low-no-risk singles.
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The cricket is pretty uneventful right now, so why not give this piece a read?
73rd over: Australia 290-2 (Khawaja 133, Smith 79) Sri Lanka may need to change their approach here. You can bore out many modern batsmen but Khawaja and Smith aren’t among their number. They haven’t even tried to hit a boundary in the last 15 overs; they’re more than happy to stockpile singles and strengthen Australia’s grip on this Test.
72nd over: Australia 287-2 (Khawaja 131, Smith 78) Jayasuriya is starting to bowl the occasional straight ball to Smith, though the majority are still well outside leg stump. It’s another maiden, Jayasuriya’s fifth in the last seven overs.
Smith’s record in the first innings of Tests is remarkable: 7254 runs at an average of 69.75 with a whopping 30 centuries and a conversion rate of 57 per cent. Of those with at least 1000 first innings runs, only Don Bradman, Adam Voges, Everton Weekes and Harry Brook have a higher average.
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71st over: Australia 287-2 (Khawaja 131, Smith 78) Smith works Vandersay for a single to bring up a ruthless 150 partnership. Khawaja almost gets himself in trouble when he moves across his stumps to a lovely legbreak; he adjusts well to get his pad out of the way and push a single to mid-off.
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70th over: Australia 283-2 (Khawaja 129, Smith 76) Smith is starting to use his feet against Jayasuriya and works him wide of mid-on for two. Excellent placement. Smith went 12 Tests without a century, which is an age for him; he ended that run against India at Brisbane and is moving inexorably towards his third hundred in the last four Tests.
69th over: Australia 279-2 (Khawaja 128, Smith 73) Vandersay replaces Peiris and is milked for four singles, two of them from reverse sweeps by Khawaja. He’s played that shot beautifully all day.
It’s been all dot balls and singles since tea. Sri Lanka have found a way to slow the scoring rate but they really, really need a wicket or three.
68th over: Australia 275-2 (Khawaja 126, Smith 71) After facing 33 successive dot balls from Jayasuriya, Smith skips down to push a single to mid-on and prompt a sarcastic cheer from the crowd. Khawaja top-edges a slog-sweep that lands well in front of the man at deep backward square.
67th over: Australia 273-2 (Khawaja 125, Smith 70) Four singles from Peiris’s over; he has very modern figures of 17-0-77-0. There’s been only one boundary in the last 17 overs but that’s no problem for Australia. The longer they bat, the more the pitch will deteriorate.
66th over: Australia 269-2 (Khawaja 123, Smith 68) Jayasuriya continues to bowl outside leg stump and into Smith’s front pad. No sign yet of either man blinking; that’s Jayasuriya’s third maiden in a row since tea.
65th over: Australia 269-2 (Khawaja 123, Smith 68) The on-field action is so sedate that the commentators are now focussing on a game in the outfield. It was quite confusing to hear a shout of “And he’s gone!” just as Steve Smith played an airtight defensive stroke.
“Ominous signs of Smithsonian form from the jaundiced perspective of an England supporter,” says Brian Withington. “I saw from Angus’s earlier reply that young Konstas got dropped because he’s ‘unproven in Sri Lankan conditions’. I’m just idly wondering how that avoids becoming a self-fulfilling lifetime ban?”
Heh. It’s an unwritten rule of cricket that you have to pick a bespoke team when you play in Sri Lanka. But it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Josh Inglis gets big runs; Travis Head is perfect as an opener in these conditions but I’m not sure I’d want to risk him there against South Africa in the WTC final.
64th over: Australia 267-2 (Khawaja 122, Smith 67) The Jayasuriya-Smith stalemate continues with another maiden. Sri Lanka are occasionally appealing for LBW even when the ball clearly pitches outside leg stump. This isn’t 2001, lads.
63rd over: Australia 267-2 (Khawaja 122, Smith 67) Peiris mirrors Jayasuriya by bowling outside leg stump to Khawaja. He pads up to the first ball then reverse sweeps another single. The ball is starting to turn more consistently; for now it’s slow turn but you’d expect it to quicken up as the game progresses. It’s already hard to see anything other than an Australian victory.
Mind you, it was hard to see anything other than a Sri Lanka victory at Colombo in 1992. I love that Test match for all kinds of reasons.
62nd over: Australia 265-2 (Khawaja 121, Smith 66) Jayasuriya continues over the wicket to Smith, who kicks everything away. A maiden. If nothing else Sri Lanka have a degree of control for the first time: the last 11 overs have produced only 26 runs.
61st over: Australia 265-2 (Khawaja 121, Smith 66) The offspinner Nishan Peiris returns after tea. His first ball turns sharply but slowly to Khawaja, who pushes a single behind square on the off side. That’s the first of four low-risk singles in the over. I suppose Australia’s batters deserve a day like this after facing Jasprit Bumrah for five Tests. Khawaja and Smith look minded to wring every last run from this benign pitch.
Time for the evening session. There’s a small chance of rain but we should be okay; the forecast for days two and three isn’t quite so good.
“Here’s the OBO first Test tea test,” writes Jeffrey Earp. “Pit Open AI against Deepseek in a challenge to write the best short story in the style of P.G. Wodehouse featuring four characters named A.T. Holdstock, C.B. Gaffaney, J.S. Wilson, L.E. Hannibal, and J J. Crowe. Condition: the story must NOT mention a Test cricket umpiring decision.”
On that note, I went for a coffee this morning and noticed that one of England’s national newspapers has a front-page headline that refers to “psycho scumbag chatbots”. Psycho scumbag chatbots!
Standards really are slipping at the Guardian.
Tea
60th over: Australia 261-2 (Khawaja 119, Smith 64) That was a near perfect session for Australia, with Khawaja and Smith adding 116 in 28 overs. They batted with increasing authority, Smith in particular, and Sri Lanka’s weary, demoralised bowlers could have a miserable evening session ahead.
59th over: Australia 260-2 (Khawaja 119, Smith 64) Khawaja made 184 runs in 10 innings against India; it won’t be a surprise if he exceeds that in this innings. Vandersay is able to continue despite those cramps. As he whirls through another uneventful over, UltraEdge shows that the second appeal against Khawaja in the previous over was not out – the ball was close to the glove but didn’t touch it.
58th over: Australia 259-2 (Khawaja 118, Smith 63) Vandersay is down with what looks like cramp. That’s the last thing Sri Lanka need with only four specialist bowlers in the team.
When play resumes, Khawaja wallops a slog sweep for four off Jayasuriya; that’s a terrific shot. Khawaja misses successive reverse sweeps, both of which lead to big shouts for caught behind but not a review. We haven’t seen UltraEdge yet.
57th over: Australia 254-2 (Khawaja 113, Smith 63) A nice legbreak from Vandersay is worked for a couple by Khawaja, who would have been plumb LBW had he missed it. Then he brings out the reverse sweep, a shot that has served him so well today, to collect another run. After a summer at the mercy of Jasprit Bumrah, he looks in the mood to bat for a long time.
56th over: Australia 249-2 (Khawaja 109, Smith 62) Khawaja jumps across his stumps to work Jayasuriya for a single. That delivery turned more quickly, which will encourage Australia’s spinners.
Jayasuriya moves over the wicket to Smith, bowling outside leg stump with a short leg and leg slip. Smith kicks everything away.
55th over: Australia 248-2 (Khawaja 108, Smith 62) The legspinner Vandersay replaces Asitha, who has figures of 7-1-41-0. Five runs from the over, all collected with minimal risk. Australia look content to bat watchfully until tea; I suspect the tempo will be livelier in the evening session as the Sri Lankan bowlers lose the will to live tire.
54th over: Australia 243-2 (Khawaja 104, Smith 61) Jayasuriya is milked for four singles. There’s a little bit of turn but it’s painfully slow. You’d expect the pitch to deteriorate at some stage, this being Galle, but for now everything is in Australia’s favour.
53rd over: Australia 239-2 (Khawaja 102, Smith 59) Fernando makes it back-to-back maidens. If you can’t take wickets, maidens are the next best thing.
52nd over: Australia 239-2 (Khawaja 102, Smith 59) Prabath Jayasuriya returns to the attack and stalls Australia’s progress with a maiden, only the second of the day, to Smith.
The players take an impromptu drinks break while Kusal Mendis has some treatment to his right knee.
51st over: Australia 239-2 (Khawaja 102, Smith 59) Khawaja’s record as an opener is right up there – he averages 50.73, which puts him behind only four Australian openers who scored at least 500 runs in that position: Sid Barnes, Bob Simpson, Bill Ponsford and Bill Woodfull.
Fernando tries his luck around the wicket to Smith, who hooks a couple of singles. Khawaja pushes another to deep backward point. Australia are in total control.
50th over: Australia 236-2 (Khawaja 101, Smith 57) Smith, who is batting imperiously, dances down to chip Vandersay over wide mid-on for four. That brings up a rapid hundred partnership from 115 balls.
“So Rob,” says Gary Naylor, “is this Bazball or Waughball?”
Smudgeball? Ronball 2.0?
Usman Khawaja makes his 16th Test hundred!
49th over: Australia 231-2 (Khawaja 101, Smith 52) Asitha Fernando continues, with a wide slip, gully and man on the drive at short mid-off. Khawaja steers two to third man, then tucks four off the pads to reach a superb century! He’s not being Bumrahed any more. It’s his 16th Test hundred and one of his fastest: 135 balls, eight fours, one six. Khawaja’s last century was 17 Tests ago, the mighty 141 against England at Edgbaston.
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Thanks Angus, evening everyone. Not sure about a change of pace but I do know one thing: Australia are in a spectacularly good position here. They’ll take nothing for granted, given their recent experience in Sri Lanka, but from a neutral perspective there’s already a feeling of inevitability about this game. That hammering in Perth feels a long time ago.
48th over: Australia 223-2 (Khawaja 94, Smith 51) Jeffrey Vandersay has a half century of his own as his figures hit 1-50 from 10 overs. However, boundaries have dried up in the past five overs as Usman Khawaja closes in on three-figures and Smith does likewise. Time for a change of pace at the Guardian too, as Rob Smyth rumbles into the blog and I depart. Thanks for your company today and see you on the morrow!
47th over: Australia 222-2 (Khawaja 93, Smith 51) Smith temporarily relinquishes his baggy green cap to don a helmet for Asitha Fernando’s return to the attack. The 27 year old medium-fast righthander got clobbered in his first three overs of the day, as Travis Head hammered him for 28 runs. He does better here, a legside line leaking only a couple of singles. Smith has reset after reaching fifty and is watchful to the new bowlers but he still looks in ominous form. This partnership is now worth 87 from 102 balls.
46th over: Australia 220-2 (Khawaja 92, Smith 50) Australia continue to push singles and Smith’s second of the over notches his fifty – the 42nd of his 116 Test career.
45th over: Australia 219-2 (Khawaja 92, Smith 48) Someone has pinched Mum’s best blanket and draped it over a dirty siding at the Galle Stadium with the scrawled words ‘Shane Warne Grandstand’. Good to see the great man remembered in this neck of the woods. And why not? Warne took 59 wickets at 25 against Sri Lanka, second-most between the teams ahead of Muttiah Muralidaran’s 54, Mitch Starc’s 51 and Nathan Lyon’s 46, and behind only Rangana Herath on 66.
Just a single from Jayasuriya’s 20th over.
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44th over: Australia 216-2 (Khawaja 91, Smith 46) A better over for Vandersay but Smith and Khawaja still pick off three chanceless singles. Australia in cruise control right now.
43rd over: Australia 213-2 (Khawaja 90, Smith 45) Smith smashes another FOUR! That was all class. He locked onto that from the moment it left Jayasuriya’s hand and stepped out to meet it on the bounce, dispatching it up and over midwicket. A driven single gives Khawaja a chance to feast afresh. He takes a long stride down the pitch and spanks it down the ground for FOUR. And now he’s DROPPED! Bad miss by the wicketkeeper as Khawaja inside edges onto the pads and leaves the ‘keeper unsighted as the ball fizzes past his groping gloves and hits the turf. Another opportunity lost for Sri Lanka.
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42nd over: Australia 203-2 (Khawaja 85, Smith 40) Usman enters the eighties with a reverse sweep. Nice! Vandersay hasn’t started this spell with the snarl he finished the first session with. He leaked 14 runs from his first over after the break and this one goes for seven as Australia hit 200 and up the ante on day one.
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41st over: Australia 196-2 (Khawaja 77, Smith 39) Jayasuriya is showing signs of weariness. He drifts onto leg stump and Smith peels him off the pads for his fifth four of the innings. Still striking at a strike rate of 100 is Smudge.
40th over: Australia 192-2 (Khawaja 77, Smith 33) Jeffrey Vandersay is back in the attack and rightly so. He’s been Sri Lanka’s best today and starts his seventh over with 1-24. And straight away his drift deceives Steve Smith and an attempted drive becomes an inside edge over short cover for FOUR. That was dicey but Smith banks the runs and moves on. And how! He steps out to the next ball and scythes it down the ground for another boundary. Smith has rocketed to 33 from 34 and is back in the pink! He adds a third boundary to make it 14 from the over.
That boundary brings up the fifty partnership and reminds me of this Steve Smith BBL masterclass from a fortnight back…
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39th over: Australia 172-2 (Khawaja 75, Smith 19) Smith is in a nice rhythm now. He strokes Jayasuriya down the ground for a run. It’s been a great season, even by his lofty standards. Can he recapture the form of that magnificent 140 against India?
38th over: Australia 170-2 (Khawaja 74, Smith 18) Peiris gets another over, his 13th of the day. They’ve cost him plenty – 65 runs so far with not a maiden in a mix. The Australians are playing him with ease and pick off threee easy singles from the over. Time to get Vandersay back in the mix, skipper.
37th over: Australia 166-2 (Khawaja 72, Smith 16) Smith swats Jayasuriya for FOUR. Glorious stroke. He saw the ball rise and fall, watched for the spin and met it on the bounce to lash it through covers.
36th over: Australia 156-2 (Khawaja 70, Smith 11) Khawaja strolls a single from the first to give Smith a look at Peiris. Smith jiggles one around the corner for another run. He’s now got 10,010 Test runs.
The next man in is Australia’s newest Test player, Josh Inglis, owner of baggy green cap 470. It’s been a long journey for the 29-year-old since arriving from Leeds, UK as a 15-year-old.
From England to playing Test cricket for Australia.
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 29, 2025
This is Josh Inglis’ journey to the Baggy Green 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/9FQvwaLix3
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35th over: Australia 156-2 (Khawaja 68, Smith 10) Smith is batting under his baggy green. He doesn’t have a moustache but it’s still a superb sight. Not enough to eke a run from Jayasuriya though who delivers a maiden.
34th over: Australia 156-2 (Khawaja 67, Smith 8) Nishan Peiris, not the best of the morning Jeffrey Vandersay, has been handed the ball. He comes around the wicket for his 11th over and hits a good length straight off, but Khawaja and Smith are able to trade singles to keep Australia kicking toward 200.
33rd over: Australia 153-2 (Khawaja 67, Smith 8) Khawaja clips a single which leaves Steve Smith to hot step down and loft Jayasuriya down the ground for SIX! He had an impressive BBL series, Smith, and that one is a very big bash. Great start to the session.
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As players take the field for the second session, I’ve spent the lunch break studying the scorecard from the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in 1983.
Of all the remarkable stats – David Hookes’ 143, Kepler Wessels 141 , Bruce Yardley’s 5-88, Australia’s victory by an innings and 38 runs – the greatest of them all could be that nine of Australia’s XI wore a moustache. Seems only Rodney Hogg and Wessells packed the razor on that tour.
Anyway, Prabath Jayasuriya has the ball and Usman Khawaja is taking strike. Here we go.
LUNCH: Australia 145-2 (Khawaja 65, Smith 2)
Australia won that session thanks to the blitzkrieg delivered by Travis Head in his 40 ball 57. But it could have been very different if Sri Lanka had held their catches. That squandered caught and bowled opportunity by Prabath Jayasuriya off Steve Smith just before lunch will turn any kiribath to mud in the mouths of the home side at lunch.
With the Galle pitch starting to grip and turn, the second session of this first Test could be crucial. Things can happen fast in Sri Lankan cricket. The first Test of the 2022 series – which Australia won thanks to Nathan Lyon’s nine wicket haul and Travis Head’s cameo 4-10 – was over inside eight sessions. This one might spin the same way.
However, Usman Khawaja has played superbly for 65 runs from 98 balls, a quickfire innings by his usually snail-like metrics. Ater a lean home summer against India, the 38-year-old looks intent on a 16th Test century. Meanwhile, Steve Smith has two runs (and two lives) today but 10,001 from his 116 career Tests to write his name into history as one of the all-time greats.
Can he add another gilded chapter this afternoon? Join us in a hot half hour and we’ll find out.
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32nd over: Australia 145-2 (Khawaja 65, Smith 2) He’s lost his opening partner and his No 3 but Khawaja cracks on! Vandersay has bowled well to date but he dropped that one short and Khawaja rocked back and pulled it to the midwicket boundary.
Steve Smith reaches 10,000 Test runs! (Australia 137-2)
Steven Peter Devereux Smith – Australia’s captain in this Test and one of the great batters of his generation – steps down and drives a single from his first ball to reach the magic milestone! Stranded on 9999 runs after being dismissed in front of his home fans in Sydney a fortnight ago, he gets there today. Smith becomes the 15th player to achieve the feat, and fourth Australian after Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh.
31st over: Australia 144-2 (Khawaja 54, Smith 1) Three balls after reaching 10,000 runs Smith is almost out caught after stepping out and driving a full ball straight back at Jayasuriya, who can’t hold the catch! Another costly miss by Sri Lanka.
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WICKET! Labuschagne c de Silva b Vandersay 20 (Australia 135-2)
Marnus is gone! Vandersay deserved that wicket. He had troubled Labuschagne all day and he tossed it up full around off, and it jagged away as Marbnuys had a poke. It caught the edge and Sri Lanka have their second.
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29th over: Australia 131-1 (Khawaja 54, Labuschagne 19) Sri Lanka turn the screws. Jayasuriya is on a length cramping the batter’s for room and drying up runs. Khawaja clips one but Australia’s run rate has now slid under 4.5 from the match-high 6.5 15 when Travis Head was at the crease.
28th over: Australia 131-1 (Khawaja 54, Labuschagne 19) Vandersay continues to trouble the Australian batters. Two singles is all they can manage as the 34-year-old rookie finds a nagging line on off stump.
27th over: Australia 128-1 (Khawaja 52, Labuschagne 18) Jayasuriya’s 11th over is a tight one as he looks for roughage outside off stump. Khawaja breaks the deadlock with a tight single on the last.
26th over: Australia 127-1 (Khawaja 51, Labuschagne 18) Vandersay is into his third over and it’s been an impressive spell so far from the diminutive 34-year-old. Khawaja sneaks a run through backward point but Sri Lanka have done well to stem the flow of runs.
25th over: Australia 123-1 (Khawaja 50, Labuschagne 18) Jayasuriya continues to threaten. He took 12 wickets in that match-winning and series-equalling performance in 2022 and he’s finding his groove again today. Khawaja flicks one off the pads to reach a half-century from 71 balls with four fours and a six. It’s the 28th fifty of his career.
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24th over: Australia 123-1 (Khawaja 48, Labuschagne 16) Beaten! Beautiful bowling by Vandersay. He made Labuschagne look foolish three times in that over, floating the ball, landing it on a dime and fizzing it past the bat. Hope for Sri Lanka!
23rd over: Australia 123-1 (Khawaja 48, Labuschagne 16) Australia continue to dominate this first session. Jayasuriya has bowled well but runs came in a torrent when Travis Head was at the crease and have flowed steadily ever since. The batters keep things ticking over with a couple of singles here.
22nd over: Australia 120-1 (Khawaja 47, Labuschagne 16) Jeffrey Vandersay is into the attack and Labuschagne quickly gets him thinking, spanking a two and then a single to different parts of the ground. Just the second Test for Vandersay and he has two wickets at 35 to his name so far.
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21st over: Australia 117-1 (Khawaja 47, Labuschagne 12) Australia’s run rate has now dropped from a Travis Head high of 6.5 to 5.75 as Sri Lanka fight back and find spin and bounce. Jayasuriya has led the way and he rips one past Marnus as a reminder that he’s not called the Galledozer for nothing.
20th over: Australia 115-1 (Khawaja 46, Labuschagne 11) Short ball from Peiris and Khawaja leans back and heaves it to the midwicket rope. Labuschagne gets in on the action now, stepping out and driving to the mid-on fence. But he’s beaten on the next! And there’s a loud and vociferous appeal for lbw on the fifth as Labuschagne’s sweep goes awry. Umpire says NO and the Man in the High Tower says… close but NOT OUT.
19th over: Australia 106-1 (Khawaja 41, Labuschagne 7) Jayasuriya and Labuschagne are duelling. Bowler wins the first round, floating one outside off which narrowly beats the outside edge. Labuschagne takes the second, taking a long stride down to the fifth and sweeping for four. Good battle unfolding here.
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18th over: Australia 101-1 (Khawaja 40, Labuschagne 3) Khawaja continues to attack, pinching a couple of twos from Peiris. But he gets lucky on the last, edging luckily to a ball scooting lower and faster at middle stump. He steals a run but it’s a lucky one.
17th over: Australia 96-1 (Khawaja 35, Labuschagne 3) Wicket-taker Jayasuriya is in the zone now. Labuschagne works him for a couple but Sri Lanka applying pressure for the first time in the Test.
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16th over: Australia 94-1 (Khawaja 35, Labuschagne 1) Marnus Labuschagne is at the crease in his 46th Test and he watches Khawaja work a single from Peiris. Labuschagne gets off the mark by tickling a single through square leg. Will Usman continue to attack? Or will Head’s absence send him back into his more familiar anchor role?
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WICKET! Head c Chandimal b Jayasuriya 57 (Australia 92-1)
Head holes out on the long on boundary! He stepped down to deposit it down the ground but the ball arrived a tad slower and hit the toe end of the bat. A weird clonking noise rang out and Head knew he was in trouble. Sure enough the shot had height but not weight and Australia’s new opener is OUT! Sri Lanka strike at last but Head has done some serious damage in this first hour.
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15th over: Australia 91-0 (Khawaja 33, Head 57) Spin for Jayasuriya and Khawaja is beaten. Unfortunately the bat pad has been removed and he runs a single when he might’ve been caught. Head takes the long handle to the next one…. and is OUT. Labuschagne survives a loud shout for lbw on his second ball faced but it’s way down legside.
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14th over: Australia 91-0 (Khawaja 33, Head 57) Nishan Peiris starts his seventh over with 0-31. He’s rolling them down at 85kph and finding flickers of spin but he’s been bludgeoned by two batters at the top of their game. Head underlines that statement by skipping down to catch the fourth ball on the half-volley and slam it to the boundary.
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13th over: Australia 84-0 (Khawaja 31, Head 51) Cheeky by Khawaja! Seeing a yawing gap on the offside, he steps out and reverse sweeps Jayasuriya for FOUR. Great batting by the 38-year-old. After stepping out with power, he steps back with patience, flicking a single from the last to keep strike. Australia’s run-rate is now 6.46!
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12th over: Australia 76-0 (Khawaja 24, Head 50) Head brings up his FIFTY with a single to long on. Great innings so far with the half century coming from just 35 balls with nine fours and a six.
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11th over: Australia 74-0 (Khawaja 24, Head 49) Head taps a single to keep the strike rotating. Khawaja does the same as Jaysuriya continues to probe for spin. He finds it on the fifth delivery but Head sees it fizzing and flat bats it wide of mid-off for four more.
Vivienne Doonar emails to ask: Why was Sam Kontas dropped? Because he’s unproven in Sri Lankan conditions, Vivienne, and Travis Head is a proven master of them, as proven by his 49 from 33 balls today.
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10th over: Australia 67-0 (Khawaja 22, Head 44) Now Khawaja clubs a SIX! Peiris continues to toss it up but the batter saw it coming and was three metres down the pitch to negate the spin and loft it just over the rope. Sri Lanka seem unfazed by the Australian assault and Peiris gets the fifth ball to grip and it beats Khawaja who edges just wide of the man at back pad. He celebrates the near-catch by pitching another four over mid-on.
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9th over: Australia 54-0 (Khawaja 13, Head 40) Head hammers another FOUR. This time Jayasuriya put it short and wide and Head stepped back and smashed it square. Ouch! Now Head gets down on one knee and slog sweeps another glorious boundary. Fifty is up for Australia and they are rattling along at six runs per over!
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8th over: Australia 45-0 (Khawja 12, Head 33) Peiris gives it air… and so does Head, stepping down and lifting into the grandstands for SIX! Wonderful batting from the Australian vice-captain who is now batting in his baggy green cap. Between that and the bristling moustache it’s a throwback to Australia’s first Test against Sri Lanka in 1983 when David Hookes tonked a famous unbeaten 143 from 145 balls. Big appeal against Head now and this time Sri Lanka review. But it’s a bad call. The ball is striking Head’s left pad way outside the line. Review lost.
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7th over: Australia 37-0 (Khawaja 12, Head 24) Fernando, robbed of a wicket in his last over when his captain didn’t review a ball hitting Head’s off stump, is replaced with Prabath Jayasuriya AKA “The Galledozer”. Jayasuriya was the destroyer in the second Test of the last series against Australia in 2022, taking 12 wickets to bolster his career tally of 107 from 19 Tests. Head taps a single from the last.
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6th over: Australia 36-0 (Khawaja 12, Head 23) Peiris tosses it up but Khawaja has his feet dancing and he drives it for four past long on. Another fast over, another profitable one for Australia. And fortuitous as it turns out, as replays of that appeal in the previous over show that Fernando’s final ball was indeed hitting Head’s stumps!
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5th over: Australia 32-0 (Khawaja 3, Head 23) Bad ball first up from Fernando and Head punishes it, taking it off middle stump and sending it to the rope. Tries to repeat it on the next but it’s squarer and only yields a single. Khawaja now feasts on a fuller wider ball, stepping out and opening the face to glide his first boundary of the day. The 79-Test veteran then reaches for a wide one and steers a run behind point. Head stands tall to the next, cutting powerfully and eluding the boundary rider for a fifth boundary from 13 balls. Big appeal on the last, more exasperation than expectant me thinks, but Sri Lanka opt not to review.
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4th over: Australia 18-0 (Khawaja 3, Head 14) Right-armer Peiris wheels in again from his two-metre “run-up”. Head immediately slaps a single and Khawaja, beaten in flight and looking awkward, inside edges a run in return. Head tiptoes down to the final ball, driving straight to retain the strike.
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3rd over: Australia 15-0 (Khawaja 2, Head 12) Fernanado returns, this time around the wicket. This is the 27-year-old’s 22nd Test and he has 76 wickets at 26 to show for them. Second ball jags back and catches Khawaja on the codpiece. Nasty for Ussie, nice for Asitha and first sign of spice from this Galle pitch thus far… but the extra kick came from a no-ball. Khawaja can’t get a bat on the rest. Good response from Fernando.
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2nd over: Australia 14-0 (Khawaja 2, Head 12) Two-Test spinner Nishan Peiris will bowl the second over and lucky for him it’s to Usman Khawaja not boundary-glutton Travis Head. Peiris rattles through six deliveries and has a single taken from the last.
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1st over: Australia 13-0 (Khawaja 1, Head 12) And we’re away! First ball from Asitha Fernando is full and Usman Khawaja takes a half-step to drive a single. Head has a look at one then casually flicks the next for FOUR. Fifth ball is wide and Head, deep in the crease, swats it square for another boundary. Easy pickings. And why not go three in a row? A late cut eludes gully and flies to the rope. What a start for Travis Head!
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Players are on the field and anthems are being belted out under cloudy skies in Galle. There was rain overnight but skies are clear for now and expected to stay that way for much of the day. After that, things gets dicey with showers predicted fr the remainder of the Test.
The pitch looks dry and dusty. No grass to speak of but there’ll likely be moisture deeper down. Heaters and UV lights have been used by curators to dry the pitch this morning. What effect will it have? Batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up, we’re about to find out!
So teenage wonderboy Sam Konstas has been dropped after two Tests and Scott Boland’s run of bad luck continues, also dumped after winning man of the match honours in his last Test. Again.
Konstas makes way for Travis Head to open the batting with fellow Asian wicket specialist Usman Khawaja and Boland will shine the pine to allow specialist spinners right-armer Todd Murphy and leftie Matthew Kuhnemann to return to the line-up.
An interesting challenge now awaits Konstas who seemed assured of playing in the Ashes but whose rollercoaster rise has now been suddenly derailed. If Josh Inglis, a fine player of spin, takes his chance in the middle order this series and Head excels at the top and decides to stay there, Australian cricket’s Next Big Thing might be left waiting for Usman Khawaja to retire if he’s to dust off his baggy green.
It’s nothing Geoff Lemon didn’t see coming…
Teams
Final XIs have been confirmed and it’s a case of ‘Come in spinner!’ as both sides plump for triple-threat spin attacks.
Australia XI: 1 Usman Khawaja 2 Travis Head 3 Marnus Labuschagne 4 Steven Smith (capt.) 5 Josh Inglis 6 Beau Webster 7 Alex Carey (wk) 8 Mitchell Starc 9 Mathew Kuhnemann 10 Nathan Lyon 11 Todd Murphy
Sri Lanka XI: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Oshada Fernando, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Prabath Jayasuriya, 9 Nishan Peiris, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay 11 Asitha Fernando
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Josh Inglis is confirmed to play and has received baggy green cap No 470 from redoubtable former Test opener Geoff Marsh whose son Mitchell was dropped for this series. The English-born, Australian-raised Inglis completes the Australian cricket holy trinity, having already played 26 ODIs and 29 T20s in the green and gold.
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Australia have won the toss and will bat first
Good toss to win for Steve Smith. Australia will bat first and bowl last on what is traditionally a fiercely spinning Galle wicket.
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As Australia’s men get their series under way today, Australia’s women are preparing to play the Ashes Test against England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground tomorrow. Australia are unbeaten in the series so far and, if Beth Mooney’s fighting words today are any indicator, there’s plenty more pain for the English to come.
Melbourne, we've got an incredible opportunity to celebrate an incredible team this week!
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 28, 2025
See you at the day-night Test at the MCG starting Thursday! Tickets: https://t.co/bvlb8shHCg #Ashes pic.twitter.com/evl64kYFrd
Since 2007-08, Australia and Sri Lanka have played for the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, named for the two titans of spin bowling from either nation. The trophy itself is a beauty, with the magic hands of both men cast in bronze and gripping match balls.
With final XIs pending here’s how the squads line up for this series…
Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake
Australia: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
Australia enter this series without spearhead and captain Pat Cummins, who has sent his superhero cape to the dry-cleaners and stayed home for the birth of his second child while plotting the next step in Australia conquest of the cricketing world.
With Josh Hazlewood also sidelined, the bowling attack Australia’s selectors go with here in Galle is the subject of heated conjecture. Veterans Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon seem certain to play. But who partners each?
Will people’s hero paceman Scott Boland get a chance alongside Starc with the new ball? Or does uncapped NSW firebrand Sean Abbott get his opportunity at last? Perhaps the medium pace of SCG Test hero allrounder Beau Webster is promoted up the bowling order?
Given the dry spinning wickets here in Galle, it’s also possible Australia could opt for a three-prong spin attack. Will Todd Murphy, Matthew Kuhnemann or rookie Cooper Connolly partner Lyon? Or will Australia pick just one of that trio and trust the part-time tweak of Travis Head who took a handy 4-10 to clinch the first Test for Australia in 2022?
There is risk with all three spinners, with Murphy not having played a Test in over a year, left-armer Kuhnemann recovering from thumb surgery and Connolly a veteran of just four first-class games.
The playing XIs for this match will be confirmed shortly, with plenty of debate over who will start and where they’ll bat/ bowl if picked.
Australia dropped a bombshell yesterday by confirming Travis Head will replace Sam Konstas as opener. Will the 19-year-old Boxing Day Test hero move down the order or drop out of the XI entirely? If the latter, who fills that vacant middle-order spot? Will Nathan McSweeney – a specialist No 5 at home – be recalled? Or are local reports on the money saying dynamic wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis is set to win a Test debut a month shy of his 30th birthday?
Feel free to drop me an email with your tuppence worth at any stage today. Or simply rhapsodise about Konstas in prose or poetry so we can get under Barney Ronay’s skin ahead of the Ashes…
There is deep intrigue surrounding this series, with key personnel missing from both squads, several stars believed to be playing injured and a host of fresh faces bracing for baptism in the pressure cooker of Test cricket.
Both sides had a good 2024, with Sri Lanka boasting a 6-4 win-loss record and Australia 7-2-1. However, Australia still have their tail up after defeating India 3-1 to win back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade, whereas Sri Lanka finished the year with a 2-0 away loss to South Africa, losing both Tests by hefty 233-run and 109-run margins.
Here’s how Geoff Lemon previewed the first Test…
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Preamble
Greetings cricket fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s over-by-over coverage of the opening day in the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at Galle International Cricket Stadium. Angus Fontaine here with you for the opening stages before Rob Smyth takes you home to stumps.
These two nations have been playing Tests against each other since 1983. In the 33 Tests over those 42 years, Australia has won 20 to Sri Lanka’s five, with eight draws. Overall, in 14 series, Australia has won 11 and Sri Lanka just two, with their sole triumphs coming at home in 1999 and 2016. However, the pendulum has swung back to Sri Lanka of late. Of the seven Tests contested in the past decade, Sri Lanka lead 4-3 (no draws).
If you’re looking for a form guide for 2025, look no further than the most recent two-Test showdown in 2022, the only drawn series ever staged between these countries, both played at Galle, today’s battleground.
Australia won the first Test by 10 wickets inside three days, with Nathan Lyon taking nine scalps and Travis Head 4-10 in the second innings. Sri Lanka then staged an epic fightback in the second Test. After Marnus Labuschagne (104) and Steve Smith (145) led Australia’s to 364, Dinesh Chandimal (206) swept Sri Lanka to 554 before Prabath Jayasuriya (6-59) rolled the visitors for 151 to seal victory by an innings and 39 runs.
It was a stunning reminder of how formidable Sri Lanka can be at home and why Australia are wary. Despite beating India 3-1 in the home summer and securing their berth at the World Test Championship in July, the No 1 Test side in the world somehow enter this 2025 series as underdogs.
The stage is set, the fuse is lit, and action gets under way at 3.30pm AEST.
