Khawaja’s Double Century, Inglis’ Debut Ton & Starc’s ‘700’ – Sri Lanka in Deep Trouble
Rain brought an early end to the day’s play, offering some relief to Sri Lanka’s struggling batters. At least no more wickets fell! On a pitch where Australia feasted on runs, and Sri Lanka toiled for nearly two days to take just six wickets in 154 overs, the hosts lost three wickets within the first 10 overs of their innings.
At stumps on Day 2 of the first Test in Galle, Sri Lanka were reeling at 44/3 in response to Australia’s mammoth total, still trailing by 610 runs.
Australia’s batting dominance continued from Day 1, where both Usman Khawaja and Steven Smith notched centuries. On the second day, Smith departed for 141, but Khawaja went on to register his maiden Test double century, scoring 232 off 352 balls. Meanwhile, debutant Josh Inglis stormed into the record books with a 90-ball century at the age of 29. Australia eventually declared at a towering 654/6.
Mitchell Starc had a milestone moment with the ball as well. On his 35th birthday, he claimed a wicket to reach 700 international scalps, becoming only the third Australian pacer to achieve this feat after Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.
Sri Lanka’s collapse began early when left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, playing his first Test in nearly two years, trapped Oshada Fernando LBW in just his second over.
Starc struck in the fifth over, dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne with a short ball, bringing up his historic milestone. The catch, however, was far from easy—substitute fielder Nathan McSweeney managed to grab it on the second attempt at gully.
Starc nearly got Dinesh Chandimal in his next over, but McSweeney couldn’t hold on to a sharp chance at gully.
Nathan Lyon then bowled Angelo Mathews, but the bails didn’t fall—one of those rare cricketing moments! However, Lyon didn’t have to wait long as he dismissed Mathews in his very next over, thanks to a sharp one-handed catch at short leg by Travis Head.
By the 10th over, Sri Lanka had slumped to 30/3. When rain interrupted play, Chandimal (9*) and Kamindu Mendis (13*) were at the crease, hoping to rebuild.
Summary Scores:
Australia 1st Innings: (Overnight 330/2) 654/6 declared in 154 overs (Khawaja 232, Smith 141, Inglis 102, Carey 46*, Webster 23, Starc 19*; Asitha 15-1-77-0, Peiris 41-1-189-0, Jayasuriya 60-8-193-3, Vandersay 38-0-182-3)
Sri Lanka 1st Innings: 44/3 in 15 overs (Oshada 7, Karunaratne 7, Chandimal 9*, Mathews 7, Kamindu 13*; Starc 4-0-10-1, Kuhnemann 5-1-26-1, Lyon 5-2-7-1, Murphy 1-1-0-0)
