That’s it for today. Thanks for joining us for a great day’s play.
Here’s our match report:
Stumps - Sri Lanka 229-9
That is that. Remarkably, we actually saw the full 90 overs in from Australia in a day of Test cricket. That was with 74 overs of spin, and they still needed 22 of the extra 30 minutes.
Sri Lanka did really well to recover, and really badly to need recovery. Won the toss and batted on a pitch that looked pretty docile at first with the risk of falling apart quickly like the first Test.
The hosts at one stage had only lost one wicket with 93 on the board. But they lost 4 for 33 from that point, then a while later lost their man man Dinesh Chandimal, and later again they lost another rush of 3 for 9.
They’ve built their score on Chandimal’s 74 and Kusal’s 59 not out, with his remaining chance to smack a few more tomorrow. Karunaratne made 36 up top and Ramesh Mendis an important 28 to help Kusal. That’s about it.
So they’ve spurned the chance to go big, but if they could burgle 250 and the pitch falls apart on Day 2, they might still challenge Australia.
In the meantime, Lyon and Kuhnemann have bowled 30 overs each, Starc 16, so they’ll be tired, while the fourth “bowler” in Connolly has sent down three overs in an entire day, while Head has bowled eight.
We’ll be back tomorrow, see you then.
90th over: Sri Lanka 229-9 (Kusal 59, Kumara 0) Kuhnemann back from the other end, replacing Starc. Kusal blocks the first four, nudges a run to the off side from the fifth. All the fielders gather around Kumara, but he defends safely and that is stumps.
89th over: Sri Lanka 228-9 (Kusal 58, Kumara 0) Lyon replaces Kuhnemann, Smith wanting off spin for the left-hander. Kumara does well though. Leaves two balls turning away, defends one coming on straight. Leaves the next two, blocks again. Nearly chases one into Carey’s gloves but restrains himself, as Carey groans at the closeness of it all. Kumara survives! Not a spud.
88th over: Sri Lanka 228-9 (Kusal 58, Kumara 0) Starc to Kusal, then, so the batter can treat this like opening in an ODI. Lashes with an angled bat through cover, but the fielder stops it so Kusal doesn’t risk a run, not sure if he’d have time for a second. Starc bowling very wide, that looked more accident than plan. I’m sure he wants some width, to force uncontrolled shots, but not barely on the pitch. Up come the fielders after four balls. Can’t beat gully from the fifth ball, cutting. Can beat them on the last ball, but strikes it nicely through cover for four! Kusal might have preferred a single. But then there’s not much point batting longer if you’re not scoring.
87th over: Sri Lanka 224-9 (Kusal 54, Kumara 0) So here comes Lahiru Kumara, beefy fast bowler, another left-handed bat. Fielders crowding like seagulls now. Bat pad both sides. Two slips, leg slip. Kuhnemann turning the ball inwards. Usman Khawaja wearing someone’s baggy on top of his white hat. They don’t get their guy out though.
Doesn’t kumara mean sweet potato?
WICKET! Peiris b Kuhnemann 0 (Sri Lanka 224-9)
That didn’t take long. Starc keeping Kusal off strike works, as the left-handed Peiris defends down the line of the stumps, but the left-armer’s ball from over the wicket passes his outside edge to bowl him off stump.
86th over: Sri Lanka 224-8 (Kusal 54, Peiris 0) Field spread for Kusal, wanting to give him the single so Starc can bowl at ten and jack. No dice, says Kusal, who flays a square drive over gully for four, then ignores a wider ball. The field comes up with two balls to go. Swivel pull from Kusal, but high on the blade and stopped at square leg. He can’t score from the sixth, tight on the stumps. Nishan Peiris will have to face Kuhnemann.
Half century! Kusal Mendis 50 from 90 balls
85th over: Sri Lanka 220-8 (Kusal 50, Peiris 0) Amazingly, a boundary off Kuhnemann. Only the third of this innings. Kusal goes to 49 with that late cut, then drives his 50th run. He’s played really well to stop things falling apart.
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84th over: Sri Lanka 215-8 (Kusal 45, Peiris 0) Hat-trick ball, with the left-handed Nishan Pereis at No10… but Starc bowls too wide of his stumps. The ball swings away.
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WICKET! Jayasuriya c Smith b Starc 0 (Sri Lanka 215-8)
First ball! The right-handed left-arm spinner has edged to slip. Starc is on a hat-trick, and Smith has broken Ricky Ponting’s Australian record for Test catches with 197.
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WICKET! Ramesh Mendis c Carey b Starc 28 (Sri Lanka 215-7)
Set up by Starc! The bouncer ploy works, in a roundabout way. The short ball itself isn’t tough to face, it’s high and down the leg side, no threat. And I don’t think that Ramesh is scared of a follow-up. He’s not waiting on the back foot. But he’s sure that the next one will be the inswinger onto the pads. He’s camped out waiting for that. So Starc bluffs him there. Instead bowls the scrambled seam across him, moving away. And crouched ready to defend down the line, Ramesh is lured into following the angled ball, letting it clip the toe of his bat on its way to the keeper.
83rd over: Sri Lanka 214-6 (Kusal 44, Ramesh 28) Another tidy over from Kuhnemann, left arm from both ends. Single first ball, then Ramesh keeps on blocking. He’s faced more balls than Kusal now. Kuhnemann still getting some to turn sharply.
82nd over: Sri Lanka 213-6 (Kusal 43, Ramesh 28) Now they decide to take the new ball, an over late. Starc has it. Lopes in, swings it at pace! Smashes the pad but there’s an inside edge. Kusal Mendis playing well enough to nick it. Next ball he plays with the swing and picks off a single, off his pads through square. Scrambled seam goes away from Ramesh, the inswinger is met with the blade. And again, well enough this final time to get two runs through midwicket.
81st over: Sri Lanka 210-6 (Kusal 42, Ramesh 26) Lyon continues with the old ball, Ramesh is happy to play him out. Ramesh Mendis has faced 81 balls so far.
80th over: Sri Lanka 210-6 (Kusal 42, Ramesh 26) Rare bad ball from Kuhnemann, cut but Ramesh finds the fielder. Ramesh consoles himself with an accidental run from a defensive shot, skewed away to leg. The new ball is available.
79th over: Sri Lanka 209-6 (Kusal 42, Ramesh 25) Another run for Kusal down the ground, then Lyon is excited as Ramesh lets the ball hit his pad flap. Outside the line but no shot offered. It’s not turning back enough though, and Australia don’t review. He drives another run to follow.
78th over: Sri Lanka 207-6 (Kusal 41, Ramesh 24) Been batting a long time, but still sharp enough to grab a single, Kusal just defending Kuhnemann away but square enough towards cover that there’s time for a dash.
77th over: Sri Lanka 206-6 (Kusal 40, Ramesh 24) Lyon quickly replaces Head, coming from around the wicket to the right-handed Kusal Mendis, who waits until one keeps low outside the off stump and plays a standing sweep, flat propellor style, for one. They have a short straight mid on, next to the pitch about two thirds of the way down, to make Ramesh rethink his front-foot defence shots. Instead he takes one to cover, and Kusal again sweeps behind square to the deep, where Connolly finally has something to do.
76th over: Sri Lanka 203-6 (Kusal 38, Ramesh 23) Kuhnemann gets another ball to jag, away from the bat, then angles one back in. Ramesh Mendis in a battle here. Hasn’t played a rash shot all day though, he’s doing well. Gets through the over.
75th over: Sri Lanka 203-6 (Kusal 38, Ramesh 23) Full toss to start the over, Kusal was pre-empting a big sweep but the width outside off stump throws him off balance, and he just pats it into the off side. The downsides of pre-meditation, might have smashed that somewhere else otherwise. Head goes short afterwards, and Kusal cuts one.
74th over: Sri Lanka 201-6 (Kusal 37, Ramesh 22) Kuhnemann after the refreshments, left-arm straight down the line of the stumps, giving away his runs at two per over today, and giving none away from this over as Ramesh blots him out.
73rd over: Sri Lanka 201-6 (Kusal 37, Ramesh 22) Starc continues, this pair are happy to get driving. Nothing powerful, finding ones through the off side. A punch at a wide ball that keeps low is the run that takes Sri Lanka to 200 and the partnership to 50. Drinks.
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72nd over: Sri Lanka 197-6 (Kusal 35, Ramesh 20) Accidental boundary for Ramesh, who manages an edge against Head that trickles past the keeper and away to the rope. The batter is up to 20.
71st over: Sri Lanka 193-6 (Kusal 35, Ramesh 16) Ten overs away from the new ball, Smith wants to see whether Starc can do anything involving reverse with this older one. He does beat Kusal Mendis like he did earlier, narrowly, and the Australians waste a review checking for a nick, but none there. Another edge along the ground to Smith at slip, hits him on the end of the finger and he’s unhappy about that. Kusal finally gets off strike with one run to point. Ramesh gets a thick edge for another.
70th over: Sri Lanka 190-6 (Kusal 34, Ramesh 14) More dynamism from Kusal Mendis, getting his hands in position to play the reverse sweep against Head, fine through deep third for four. A couple of singles, 200 gets closer.
69th over: Sri Lanka 184-6 (Kusal 29, Ramesh 13) The singles keep coming off Lyon’s bowling, this time both players pushing into gaps in the covers. They’re building well, something over 200 might, might, be competitive if the pitch gets worse tomorrow.
68th over: Sri Lanka 181-6 (Kusal 27, Ramesh 12) And Connolly gets dragged. After one over. His third of the innings. Replaced by a part-timer in Head. Again, this from a player in a specialist bowler’s spot. Regardless of whether he makes runs, this whole situation has no credibility.
Head is largely blocked out by Ramesh.
67th over: Sri Lanka 180-6 (Kusal 26, Ramesh 12) A quieter over for Lyon, so that was just a brief attacking flourish from Kusal before. Settles for a single here.
66th over: Sri Lanka 178-6 (Kusal 25, Ramesh 11) Well, here we go. Cooper Connolly, who has been picked in a specialist bowling spot at No8 despite never taking a first-class wicket, has bowled two overs out of the first 65. Fewer than Head. Personally, I think that selection is deeply disrespectful to all Australian state cricketers with extensive careers. He has lots of talent and hopefully does well, but you should still have to do the work, not get a baggy green off the back of three Shield games.
He gets smacked here though, down the leg side and glanced for four, the short and smashed through cover for another. One each for the Mendises.
65th over: Sri Lanka 169-6 (Kusal 21, Ramesh 6) Another tidy one from Kuhnemann, just the single from the last ball as Ramesh again works with the turn into the leg side.
64th over: Sri Lanka 168-6 (Kusal 21, Ramesh 5) Now it’s the middle overs of the ODI, as both batters work singles freely from Lyon. The sweep, the nudge, the on drive.
63rd over: Sri Lanka 164-6 (Kusal 19, Ramesh 3) A contrast in approach from Ramesh Mendis, who blocks out a Kuhnemann over.
62nd over: Sri Lanka 164-6 (Kusal 19, Ramesh 3) It’s time to move, says Kusal. Has a couple more looks at Lyon, then goes to one-day mode with two big slog sweeps, the first for four, the next for six. A couple of singles as well. Makes a degree of sense, there’s not a huge amount of batting to come.
61st over: Sri Lanka 152-6 (Kusal 8, Ramesh 2) An old-fashioned hip and shoulder now in the cricket, as Ramesh Mendis looks to get off the mark and Kuhnemann charges into the leg side after the ball. In the process he body-checks Kusal Mendis, having not seen him at all, Kusal setting off for the run. Kusal hits the dirt and then scrambles back into his ground without his bat, Kuhnemann gets a whack on his head and his left hand in the process. One hard-ball get, M. Kuhnemann. R. Mendis gets going a few balls later with two.
WICKET! Chandimal st Carey b Kuhnemann 74 (Sri Lanka 150-6)
Carey very confident! And with good reason, though it’s tight. Some air from Kuhnemann, gets Chandimal leaning forward to drive, the turn beats him. That shot drags the back foot ever so slightly forward, and while Chandimal, a keeper himself, is immediately aware of getting his toe back, it snags in the turf on the line and his foot bends rather than sliding. He’s on the line, all over the line, but can’t get any part of the boot down behind the line. Carey, with the best view, knows it’s out, and the third umpire soon agrees. No ton for Chandimal, who has played so well all day. Big problems for Sri Lanka.
60th over: Sri Lanka 144-5 (Chandimal 70, Kusal 6) Aggression after tea from Chandimal! Gets strike from Kusal via a tuck to leg, and Chandimal ends the over with a skip down, lofting his off drive against the spin over wide long off. Perfectly struck, to the pitch.
59th over: Sri Lanka 144-5 (Chandimal 70, Kusal 6) Matt Kuhnemann starts off after drinks, no run off his first over. Nearly picks up Chandimal via a return catch but the leading edge doesn’t carry.
Tea - Sri Lanka 144 for 5 on Day 1
Australia’s session, 4 for 57 after they took only one wicket in the first session. Big Frank Karunaratne and Chandimal took their stand to 70, but Frankie Roons was bowled in bewildering circumstances, an entirely innocuous straight ball from Lyon on the angle around the wicket that somehow skipped through the defences and hit leg stump. If you bowl long enough, somebody will make a mistake. He made 36. Then three cheap ones for Australia: Ange playing for more turn than Lyon produced, edging behind; Kamindu Mendis steering Head to slip, and Dhananjaya lashing Starc to gully.
Two double strikes, 4 for 34, and in truth the current pair have done well to pull things together since. Only added 17 runs but they’ve batted 14 overs to do it. Any score might be a good score here, now that the turn has begun so early.
58th over: Sri Lanka 144-5 (Chandimal 70, Kusal 6) Picking up the runs where they can, Kusal Mendis one from Lyon through square. Chandimal is starting to look threatened by Lyon’s turn. He advances once but can’t time it, then gets stuck on the crease and edges one that goes directly to ground. Finally shuffles about and again whips the ball through square, one run. He’s into his next decile.
57th over: Sri Lanka 142-5 (Chandimal 69, Kusal 5) Get the horn section, it’s ragtime. The pitch has suddenly started doing heaps. Kuhnemmann was a uni dropout in his first stint, couldn’t get a degree, but at the start of a new spell he savages a ball past Chandimal’s edge. That’s off the unblemished section of the pitch in line with the stumps, too, not the rough. It pitches middle and beats off stump by a margin. Chandimal gives it a staring-boyfriend-meme stare and purse of the lips.
56th over: Sri Lanka 142-5 (Chandimal 69, Kusal 5) Another one for Chandi, steps down and bunts Lyon towards mid off to give time for a scamper. Kusal clips with power but finds square leg, set deep, hit too well to get a run. Another sweep, to another full toss, and again he might have hit that straight for six but instead hits it square. Gets one run this time, at least. Then it shreds again! Big turn from Lyon, sharp into the pads, and Chandimal plays it sublimely to get bat on that and clip it square for a run. Would have been going down leg, but tough to make contact with that ball.
55th over: Sri Lanka 139-5 (Chandimal 67, Kusal 4) Chandimal breaks the Starc scoreless streak, 22 balls in a row that reached, until the first ball of this over as Chandimal finds a single to cover. He’s batting with serenity and concentration, Chandimal, happy to find his occasional one run and get through some hard spells. Starc grinning and chattering away to Kusal who is blocking out the over, it seems fairly friendly though there’s a little spice.
54th over: Sri Lanka 138-5 (Chandimal 66, Kusal 4) Off with their Head, and here comes Lyon for a new spell. Switching ends from where he took Australia’s first three wickets of the innings. Chandimal steps out second ball of the spell and drives hard along the ground, mid off is set deep so there’s a run. Kusal misses a sweep, the ball too full. Would have been a low full toss, I reckon, if he’d hit that straight. Then there’s wild turn down the leg side! As sharp as you’ll ever see from Lyon, from well outside off past the batter’s hip. Yikes. Kusal stabs down on the next one with extreme suspicion.
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53rd over: Sri Lanka 136-5 (Chandimal 65, Kusal 3) That ball is still going! Starc when he gets it right sizzles the reverse swing away from the right-hander’s bat. Still can’t get the edge though. Nor from the fifth ball, a lifter, inasmuch as anything can be a lifter on this pitch. Gets up around the shoulder of the bat as Chandimal yanks that bat inside the line. A third scoreless over in a row for Starc.
52nd over: Sri Lanka 136-5 (Chandimal 65, Kusal 3) Head still dangerous, skids one past Chandimal’s outside edge from Starc’s footmarks. Slip and short leg. Chandimal takes one run straight. Kusal lunges into a forward defence and darts off for the run that becomes available into the off side. Chandimal goes back and ticks one off his pads. Big turn there into the right-hander but he catches up with it.
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51st over: Sri Lanka 133-5 (Chandimal 63, Kusal 2) Starc again, threatens with a couple, wastes a couple with width. Kusal gets through the more dangerous deliveries and sees out six more balls. One run and one wicket from Starc’s three overs in this spell.
50th over: Sri Lanka 133-5 (Chandimal 63, Kusal 2) Head continues, Chandi playing with more control this time as he turns a run to fine leg. Kusal doubles his own score with a drive straight, then Chandimal lashes a drive through cover, and it’s only half stopped by Webster. Two runs instead of four.
49th over: Sri Lanka 129-5 (Chandimal 60, Kusal 1) Starc misses down the leg side a couple of times. But when he gets the line right, he gets Kusal Mendis chasing. The reverse swing is taking the ball away from the right-hander, who manages not to nick either of his drives.
48th over: Sri Lanka 129-5 (Chandimal 60, Kusal 1) Almost through Chandimal! Head gets serious turn, and even the set batter is beaten except for an inside edge. The ricochet just misses his stumps and gets him a run. Kusal gets off the mark with a sweep.
47th over: Sri Lanka 127-5 (Chandimal 59, Kusal 0) Starc has got the ball reversing here. Did that in 2016 while picking up nine wickets for the match. Australia still lost that one. Everything riding on Chandimal now for Sri Lanka. A former captain and former keeper now joined by Kusal Mendis, another former captain and now full-time keeper.
WICKET! Dhananjaya c Webster b Starc 0 (Sri Lanka 127-5)
Oh, another one. Two balls later, Dhananjaya’s first ball, and a golden duck. Starc comes on, left-arm around the wicket at pace to the righty, very wide of the off stump and full. The Sri Lankan skipper plays a square drive and toes it straight to gully.
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WICKET! Kamindu c Smith b Head 13 (Sri Lanka 126-4)
46th over: Sri Lanka 126-4 (Chandimal 58, Kamindu 13) And Head does it again! The new AB Medallist has that knack, and he shakes his arm as though it’s sore after the wicket, perhaps a joke to show how often his golden arm works. That’s the last ball of the over, after his off breaks get whacked for a couple of boundaries, down the ground by Chandi and swept by Kamindu. But the sixth ball is short, in at the left-hander’s body, and Kamindu tries a dab shot but only steers it to Smith at slip.
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Thanks, Big Jim. Nathan Lyon doing all the lifting early, with Australia choosing to go in one spinner down. Part-timers galore, with Travis Head now getting a chance on the ground where he took 4 for 10 a couple of years ago.
45th over: Sri Lanka 117-3 (Chandimal 53, Kamindu 9) Mendis tickles Lyon off his pads for a welcome boundary. It’s been all Australia in the hour after lunch and Sri Lanka will be glad of a drink to stop the squeeze.
I’m glad to see Geoff Lemon sidling into the OBO armchair. That’s me done for today, thanks for your company – bye!
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44th over: Sri Lanka 110-3 (Chandimal 51, Kamindu 4) Mendis flicks in the air lazily and nearly dollies a simple catch to midwicket. Get your head on son.
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43rd over: Sri Lanka 108-3 (Chandimal 50, Kamindu 3) Lyon has his dander up, he’s on the prowl for poles. A third maiden to him, he has 3-33 off 17 overs. Sublime.
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42nd over: Sri Lanka 108-3 (Chandimal 50, Kamindu 3) Chandimal goes to a well made half century off 105 balls. He’s looked a bit skittish in the last few overs, unsure of how to counteract the incessantly nagging length and lines of Kuhnemann and Lyon. He averages around 6o in Test’s at Galle, he can’t let this slide now, his team need him to make a big one and set up this game.
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41st over: Sri Lanka 105-3 (Chandimal 48, Kamindu 2) Nathan Lyon is bowling like a dream, he slides one past Kamindu Mendis’ defensive poke and Joel Wilson raises the finger! Was there a noise? It wasn’t the most convincing appeal… Mendis sends it upstairs and sure enough there is a flat line on the snicko so the decision is reversed. NOT OUT.
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40th over: Sri Lanka 105-3 (Chandimal 48, Kamindu 2) A lot hinges on this partnership now for the home side, the wily experience of Chandimal and the coming man in golden form - Kamindu Mendis. They need to get their side to a competitive first innings score.
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39th over: Sri Lanka 101-3 (Chandimal 46, Kamindu 0) Kamindu Mendis is the new batter, Sri Lanka teetering a little after lunch.
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WICKET! Mathews c Carey b Lyon 1 (Sri Lanka 101-3)
Shot. That’s more like it – Chandimal uses his feet and drives Lyon down the ground for four. It was a bit uppish but safely in the gap. A better approach to take a few risks rather than scratching around and waiting to get a ball with your name on. A single through point brings Mathews on sttrike…
He’s out! A flighted ball from Lyon is poked at by Mathews and Carey takes a sharp catch behind the stumps. That’s Lyon’s 150th wicket in Asia, it’s a nice on too, flighted and a hint of turn, he’s troubling both edges as he so often does. A painful innings from Big Angelo comes to an end.
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38th over: Sri Lanka 96-2 (Chandimal 41, Mathews 1) Chandimal uses his feet to get down the pitch and take a single down to long on, the first run in a long old while.
Elsewhere, has everyone seen this shot? Pure filth:
Paarl Royals got off to an absolute flyer in the first over 👏 #BetwaySA20 #MICTvPR #WelcomeToIncredible pic.twitter.com/KAJBh1HowA
— Betway SA20 (@SA20_League) February 4, 2025
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37th over: Sri Lanka 95-2 (Chandimal 40, Mathews 1) The run rate flatlines completely as Lyon ties Angelo Mathew to the crease. The batters need to find a way to rotate the strike. At the minute they are in their crease and letting the spinners dictate to them. Easily said from here, mind.
36th over: Sri Lanka 95-2 (Chandimal 40, Mathews 1) The pressure cooker begins to hiss. Just two runs in the last 20 odd balls as Kuhnemann reels off a maiden.
35th over: Sri Lanka 95-2 (Chandimal 40, Mathews 1) Australia are putting the squeeze on here, fielders around the bat – Marnus chirping away as is his wont – the run rate has stagnated since lunch.
34th over: Sri Lanka 94-2 (Chandimal 39, Mathews 1) Kuhnemann peels off a maiden. Looking at the Karunaratne wicket, it was clever bowling from Lyon, the ball before turned sharply and he followed up with a much quicker and straighter ball that was onto the batter before he expected. He was late on the stroke and that created enough of a gap for the ball to sneak through.
33rd over: Sri Lanka 94-2 (Chandimal 39, Mathews 1) Angelo Mathews is the new man and Australia sense they have a moment here, men swarm the bat. Lyon springs in, Angelo blocks a couple and gets of the mark with a push down the ground.
WICKET! Dimuth Karunaratne b Lyon 36 (Sri Lanka 93-2)
After looking completely untroubled Dimuth Karunatratne is bowled by Nathan Lyon! The ball skidded on and the batter went back when he should have come forward, a toe edge crashes into the stumps and he has to depart.
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32nd over: Sri Lanka 93-1 (Karunaratne 36, Chandimal 39) Matt Kuhnemann to bowl in tandem with Lyon. Karunaratne picks up a single to open his account for the afternoon and take the partnership to 70 and counting.
31st over: Sri Lanka 92-1 (Karunaratne 35, Chandimal 39) Chandimal gets his side off to a strong start in the afternoon session – pouncing on a wide-ish ball from Lyon and punching off the back foot for four through point.
The players head out to the middle after the lunch break. Hot sun beating down in Galle now. It’s dank and dark here in London. England are about to take on India in the first ODI over in Nagpur. Tom Davies has got you covered for that one:
Further lunchtime reading: Send me your worst butterfingered moments why don’t you! Droppers – you have nothing to lose but your… pride.
We all know what it is like to drop a catch. Remember when your colleague tossed you that Pink Lady over your desk, about eight years ago now. To the day. It was such a dolly! You malfunctioned didn’t you? Let yourself down, the apple fell on to your keyboard with an embarrassing clatter. Qwerty? Droppy more like. What about that time you fumbled the car keys off that simple over-bonnet-toss and there was a small but quite significant part of you inside that died for ever as you scrambled among the filth on the pavement. That is where you belong now, Droppy, among the dirt and grime, on the floor alongside your spilt opportunity.”
The players head off for some sustenance. I might well do the same. Back soon for some lunchtime musings. In the meantime, why not have a delve into a few of the pieces we’ve published on the site this week?
First up, this made me chuckle from the dripping-in-disdain quill of Jonny Liew. He’s sharp as ever as English cricket hits pay dirt, but at what cost?
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Lunch: Sri Lanka 87-1
30 overs. 87 runs. The home side ticking along patiently at 2 and a bit runs an over after electing to bat first. Not a bad return for the loss of just Pathum Nissanka. Australia have bowled ok but without too much penetration on a pitch that has spun less than they might initially have thought.
30th over: Sri Lanka 87-1 (Karunaratne 34, Chandimal 35)
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29th over: Sri Lanka 87-1 (Karunaratne 34 , Chandimal 35) Lyon back on just before lunch, he rattles through a maiden. We’ll have one more before lunch.
28th over: Sri Lanka 87-1 (Karunaratne 34 , Chandimal 35) Cooper Connolly is summoned for his first bowl in Test cricket. Serviceable action but no great turn on the ball. He drops a couple short but manages to drift a few too. Deep breaths young man. Three off the over.
27th over: Sri Lanka 84-1 (Karunaratne 32 , Chandimal 34) Careful Dimuth! Karunaratne drives uppishly off Webster, gets three runs for it but it wasn’t very far from Labuschagne lurking in the covers.
Dimuth sounds like a town in Minnesota. Wait, maybe I’m thinking of the home town of one Robert Zimmerman?
26th over: Sri Lanka 79-1 (Karunaratne 27, Chandimal 32) Kuhnemann replaces Lyon, another change of ends for him. Each batter content to soak up a few balls and flick in the gap to pick up a single.
25th over: Sri Lanka 77-1 (Karunaratne 27, Chandimal 32) Chandimal gets a thick edge off Webster and the ball flies away safely for four runs. Ten minutes to lunch, Sri Lanka’s session so far but that could change with a wicket.
24th over: Sri Lanka 71-1 (Karunaratne 27, Chandimal 27) Lyon into his ninth over of the morning. He’s got the one wicket to fall so far this morning.
Breaking News: Hearing that Marcus Stoinis has announced his retirement from ODI cricket effective immediately. That is a shock. More as we get it. He was in Australia’s Champions Trophy squad.
Marcus Stoinis has called time on his ODI career #SLvAUS #ChampsTrophy https://t.co/XQ6s5p8Tv7
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 6, 2025
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23rd over: Sri Lanka 69-1 (Karunaratne 26, Chandimal 26) Webster chugs in, medium pace at about 125kph. Would probably get me and thee out. Military medium. Karunaratne clips a single and a front foot no-ball makes it two off the over as Chandimal blocks out the rest. Attritional stuff.
22nd over: Sri Lanka 67-1 (Karunaratne 25, Chandimal 26) Karunaratne guides a single past point. Close! Chandimal nearly plinks a flick into the leg side straight to Beau Webster at short midwicket but the ball dies on the turf just before it reaches the big man. Webster is now going to come on for his first bowl in the series by the looks of it.
21st over: Sri Lanka 66-1 (Karunaratne 24, Chandimal 26) Well bowled Matt Kuhnemann, he beats Chandimal on the drive, tossing the ball up above the eye-line, enticing the stroke and skidding it past the edge. He’s on the money for the rest of the over too, a maiden – the first of the day so far! Sri Lanka have rotated the strike very well.
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20th over: Sri Lanka 66-1 (Karunaratne 24, Chandimal 26) Lyon rattles off a quick over. Just a Chandimal single poked past point.
19th over: Sri Lanka 65-1 (Karunaratne 24, Chandimal 25) Kuhnemann varies his flight and speeds but can’t get the breakthrough. Four singles off the over with relative ease. This surface looking more dormant now that most of us expected.
18th over: Sri Lanka 61-1 (Karunaratne 22, Chandimal 23) Two singles pocketed off Lyon.
17th over: Sri Lanka 59-1 (Karunaratne 21, Chandimal 22) Love this from Sri Lanka and Dinesh Chandimal! He slaps Kuhnemann away for four over point and then opens his shoulders good and proper with a glorious lofted drive over mid-off for SIX!
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16th over: Sri Lanka 48-1 (Karunaratne 21, Chandimal 11) Just a single worked off Lyon. He has men all around the bat but the turn isn’t quite as sharp now the ball has lost some it’s shine. Sri Lanka have played well in this first session. Nope – I’ve no idea what a decent first innings score might be, what do you want from me – genuine insight?
15th over: Sri Lanka 47-1 (Karunaratne 21, Chandimal 10) Drinks are taken after fifteen overs, I was a bit premature before. Could be because I’m in need of some caffeine as dawn begins to creak here in London. I’ve got my three year old daughter next to me, she’s currently being placated by some fruit loaf and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on Disney. She’s got quite a laissez faire attitude to sleep, let’s just put it that way.
Bashful Karunaratne takes a single off Kuhnemann.
14th over: Sri Lanka 46-1 (Karunaratne 21, Chandimal 9) “Other than Marnus and his 11 lives” writes Sydney’s Peter Warrington, “I really like this team, the individuals and the structure. Connolly joins Stackpole, Smith and Maxwell as young promising batters whose spinning is good enough to let them debut down the order to get a taste. There’s a timeless romance to it.”
I confess I’ve never seen the young Connolly bowl live, he must have something about him for the selectors to throw him in for a debut here. His first class numbers don’t exactly demand Test selection but then again, as we’ve seen from us Poms recently, that seemingly matters increasingly less in this day and age.
One hour done, honours about even I reckon. Time to re-hydrate.
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13th over: Sri Lanka 45-1 (Karunaratne 21, Chandimal 8) Kuhnemann isn’t getting the same amount of turn as Lyon. He’s worked away by both Karunaratne and Chandimal and there’s five runs off the over with a minimum of risk.
An email plops into the OBO mailbag courtesy of Daniel McDonald. It is entitled ‘Vandersay Cry Baby Cry’
“Leave your home
Change your stance
Make a fifty
Then get dropped
Vandersay crybaby cry
Oh, the Galle pitch’s a spinning
There’s still no surprising you
Vandersay crybaby cry
Starc is a-swinging
I’ll explain everything to the cricinfo geeks”
Lovely stuff. This’ll be up your strasse, Daniel:
The cricket and @TheNational crossover piece that *everyone* has been waiting for https://t.co/33YrSKMELV pic.twitter.com/dcwVyaloCe
— James Wallace (@Jimbo_Cricket) July 19, 2024
12th over: Sri Lanka 40-1 (Karunaratne 18, Chandimal 6) Lyon whirls away with a man catching on the ‘45 and with a short leg in place. Karunaratne swats past the man at Boot Hill as a poor ball is sent to the fence.
11th over: Sri Lanka 34-1 (Karunaratne 13, Chandimal 5) Starc is whipped out of the attack by stand in skipper Steve Smith but there’s no sign of a nerve settling early bowl for debutant Cooper Connolly - Kuhnemann is going to start a new spell from the opposite end to his first. A single to each batter, no alarms and no surprises.
10th over: Sri Lanka 32-1 (Karunaratne 12, Chandimal 4) Beautiful cover drive from Karunaratne, pings Lyon through the covers for four. Scratch that, maybe it’s a batting paradise…
9th over: Sri Lanka 24-1 (Karunaratne 8, Chandimal 4) Four runs off the over as these two batters rotate the strike nicely. I’d wager every run is going to almost be worth double in this Test, plenty of sharp turn and bounce already and the bone dry pitch is only going to break up as the match progresses. We might well see a low scoring thriller, my favourite.
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8th over: Sri Lanka 24-1 (Karunaratne 7, Chandimal 1) Dinesh Chandimal is the new batter. He rocks back and takes a single off his second ball to end a successful over from the visitors.
WICKET! Nissanka b Lyon 11 (Sri Lanka 23-1)
Bowled him! Lyon strikes in his first over – It’s not great batting from Nissanka as he gets waaay too far across his stumps and attempts a lap sweep, the ball turned right past him and clips the leg bail. Australia have their first of the Test.
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7th over: Sri Lanka 18-0 (Nissanka 10, Karunaratne 7) Starc hares in with two slips and two gullies in place. Beaten! Nissanka goes for a booming drive but connects only with fresh air. A deft open faced glide from the next ball is the only run off the over. Nathan Lyon is coming on for a bowl in place of Kuhnemann, he’ll get some more spin and bounce out of this surface with his prodigious over spin.
6th over: Sri Lanka 18-0 (Nissanka 10, Karunaratne 7) Shot! Karunaratne flicks a straight ball off his pads with sublime timing and the ball races away across the outfield at a decent lick.
5th over: Sri Lanka 11-0 (Nissanka 10, Karunaratne 3) Starc is up at 145 clicks – 90MPH in old money. A decent effort in what looks a very hot and humid Galle. The cameraman throws a few drone shots of the coast and fort into my tv footage, I’m completely fine with it as the London chill seeps through my front room window. Completely fine, I’m probably getting loads of Vitmanin D off this draught.
Nissanka stands tall and punches into the off side for two runs, nice looking stroke, he rode the bounce well.
4th over: Sri Lanka 11-0 (Nissanka 8, Karunaratne 2) Kuhnemann to Dimuth Karunaratne, the batter leans on a full ball and takes the single down the ground. There isn’t huge turn for Kuhnemann but he is getting the ball to shoot and skid, he’s making the batters play every ball and it doesn’t look comfortable out there.
3rd over: Sri Lanka 10-0 (Nissanka 8, Karunaratne 1) Streaky from Nissanka as a thick outside edge sees him get four just wide of the slip cordon. Starc is on the money the entire over, there’s some decent carry through to Alex Carey behind the stumps and Nissanka does well to jam down on a toe breaking yorker. Australia looking threatening from both ends so far.
2nd over: Sri Lanka 5-0 (Nissanka 4, Karunaratne 1) Matt Kuhnemann from the other end. He serves up a full bunger to Karunaratne as a final Test gift to get off the mark. The batter swats away to the sweeper on the leg side boundary and will be glad to get down the non-striker’s end by the looks of it.
Kuhnemann looks dangerous right away! The new ball skids along the surface and pins Nissanka on the pad. Big appeal but it was missing leg… Even bigger appeal! This looks closer – struck on the back pad this time! Australia review but Nissanka survives – just – the ball was hitting leg stump but it was umpires call so the on field decision of not out stands.
Don’t go anywhere.
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1st over: Sri Lanka 4-0 (Nissanka 4, Karunaratne 0) Starc goes full in search of some early movement with the new nut. If there’s any it won’t be in existence for long. Nissanka is forward and defending off the front foot, there is a hint of movement back in. Shot! Starc is pummelled through the covers by Nissanka for four! What away to start the Test match for him. Starc pull his line back and scude a couple past the outside edge, just to let him know he won’t have it all his own way. Eventful first over!
Righto, time for play. Mitchell Starc has the ball in hand. The pitch is baked hard and white but scattered with cracks. Pathum Nissanka will be on strike for the first ball.
Lovely scenes in a sun soaked but breezy Galle as Sri Lanka’s players, a bunch of local school children and fellow players from Dimuth Karunaratne’s side – Sinhalese Sports Club – make a guard of honour for him as he takes the field and heads to the crease in his hundredth and final Test match. The Aussies get involved too.
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Sri Lanka leaving out Jeffrey Vandersay seems a harsh call after he made a plucky maiden fifty and bowled well in the last Test. Ramesh Mendis has been in fine fettle in Sri Lankan domestic cricket with bat and ball, he has 69 Test wickets from his fifteen Test matches so far, he might offer a bit more penetration with his off breaks on this surface. He’ll be hoping he has a day or two before he even has to turn his arm over.
Confirmed Teams:
Sri Lanka Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhanajaya de Silva (capt), Kusal Mendis (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lahiru Kumara
Australia Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (capt), Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann
The first ball is about 15 minutes away, are we going to see some raging turn from the off? Get your spinning loins girded I reckon.
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Sri Lanka win the toss and will bat first
Sri Lanka skipper Dhanajaya de Silva doesn’t hesitate to lock in batting first in Galle after Australia put on 654/6 in the first innings in the first Test.
Steve Smith is confident that Australia can still win in a different way as he confirms Cooper Connolly’s debut in place of Todd Murphy.
Cooper Connolly will make his Test debut and has been handed his first baggy green cap by Simon Katich as Australia select a fifth red-ball debutant of the summer. Todd Murphy is the player to make way from the XI that was so dominant in the opening Test.
Connolly is an exciting middle-order batter and was the third leading run-scorer in the recent BBL season, but it is his left-arm spin that was likely key to the selection in Galle. The 21-year-old is yet to take a wicket in four first-class matches or as many white-ball internationals, but will be out to change all of that in the second Test.
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Geoff Lemon has prepared a scene setter for your delectation:
So the second Test depends on Sri Lanka showing up this time and it also depends on what the ground staff deliver. At a guess that is more likely to be a pitch that spins from day one, given the new track already looked ready to play on four days out from the start. It’s not that Sri Lanka showed any aptitude against Australia’s spin, but at least a severely turning track would level out any advantage from the toss. Australia have prepared for those conditions too and, with the run-fest banked, it would be much more entertaining and instructive to see how they combat difficulty.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the first day of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia from Galle*.
Australia pummelled the home side in the first game, running out winners by an innings and 242 runs to inflict Sri Lanka’s heaviest defeat in their Test history. What to do in response to such a shellacking? The home side seem to be turning to spin to help them get something out of this two match series – by all accounts the surface for this game is drier than the bottom of a parrot’s cage.
The conditions could well see 21-year-old left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly make his Test debut for Australia and we’ll definitely witness the 100th and final Test of Sri Lanka’s 36-year-old opening batter who goes by the full name of Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne.
Play begins at 10am local time, 3.30pm AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with news of the teams and toss. As ever, do get in touch on the email linked at the left hand side of this page if you are tuning in. Your company and comments are always appreciated.
* By way of a sofa in south London. You can’t have it all.
