Sri Lanka's reply to Australia's mammoth first innings total of 654 for 6 was dented owing to the superb bowling from Australia. Starting their innings late on Day 2, the Sri Lankan openers, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Oshada Fernando, walked out to bat under challenging conditions with the Australian pacemen eager to make early inroads on a pitch that was beginning to offer variable bounce and spin.
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| Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo |
The Sri Lankan innings started promisingly enough with Karunaratne playing a few confident strokes, but the pressure was evident. Mitchell Starc used the new ball effectively, extracting movement off the pitch. His pace and swing were too much for Karunaratne, who edged one to the slips for just 7 runs, giving Starc his 700th wicket in International cricket across all formats.
At the stumps on Day 2, Sri Lanka lost 2 more wickets with a sorry scorecard of 44/3 in 15 overs. The task ahead for Sri Lanka is monumental. They need to bat with both patience and technique to avoid an innings defeat, and the next day's play would be crucial in determining how well they can respond to this Australian onslaught.
For the record, Sri Lanka need to score 455 or more in this first innings to avoid a follow-on in this Test match! Given the history of Galle pitch which mostly deteriorates from third day, the home team needs a miracle to avoid follow-on from this position.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka - 44/3 (Kmaindu Mendis - 13*, Nathan Lyon - 1/5) trail Australia - 654/6 decl (Usman Khawaja - 232, Jeffrey Vandersay - 3/182) by 610 runs at stumps on Day 2.
