Australia was firmly in the driving seat despite a spirit of Sri Lanka’s struggle to reach on Thursday 229-9 at Stumps the first day of the second test in Galle. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon took three Wickts each. Sri Lanka, who won the raffle and chose to hit, seemed to have control with 93-1, which gave them the loss of the first test for an entrance and 242 races last week. But Dimuth Karunarratne, in his 100 and final test, was slow to tear down his bat, dragging a Lyon ball to his stumps for 36 and giving Australia a crucial advance. The hosts soon got into dive at 127-5 for a chaotic hour that left Sri Lanka staggering.
In the middle of the ruins, Dineh Chandimal stood up.
The outstanding interpreter of Sri Lanka in the first test in the midst of the remains, Chandimal freed a lonely battle with a challenging, back to wall 74, dotted with six limits and six imposing.
Just when it seemed ready to take Sri Lanka to the safest coast, Alex Carey produced a moment of brilliance: the left arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann to send alarm bells sounding.
The spins bowling coach of Australia, Daniel Vettori, paid tribute to Chandimal, who said he played “exceptionally well”, but said that Sri Lanka had been “much more aggressive in the first test.”
The only remaining recognized mass, Kusal Mendis, found an ally arranged in Ramesh Mendis out of the spinner.
Remember next to this crucial clash, Ramesh played the perfect support ceremony, adding a vital position of 65 races for the seventh Wickt with his homonym.
The Australians threw them all, but the duo remained firm, negotiating the acute turn and additional rebound with poise.
While Ramesh was solid as a rock in defense, Kusal took a more aggressive route.
Tourists, frustrated for their inability to break the stand, finally resorted to the second new ball, and Starc delivered immediately.
Steamed at the north of 145 kph, Starc was relentless, with Ramesh overcoming one behind.
The quick left arm reappeared in the next installment, with Prabath Jayasuriya stating one to the sliding cord, leaving the Australians sniff a collapse.
With Starc in a hat-trick, Nishan Peiris entered under immense pressure, and Kuhnemann was beaten.
Meanwhile, Kusal Mendis kept the marker marked and reached his good half a century with a single single.
Sri Lanka’s batting coach, Thilina Kandamby, said the second session had been “disappointing” and that Australia had “firm control in the game.”
“Given the game’s stage, we will be happy if Kusal Mendis can help us reach 275,” he said.
Hundreds of Australian followers have traveled to Galle, with former players Geoff Marsh and Merv Hughes leading large contingents of tour.
Sri Lanka made three changes to the side that collapsed to his heaviest test defeat in the first game in the series, bringing the opener Pathum Nissanka, the rapid player Lahiru Kumara and Ramesh Mendis.
Australia delivered a debut to the all -terrain of 21 years Cooper Connolly instead of Todd Murphy.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a union feed).
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