Pallekele, July 26
Australia’s bowlers ripped through Sri Lanka’s brittle batting order to dismiss the home side for 117 on an eventful first day of the opening Test at Pallekele on Tuesday that also saw the visitors lose their openers for just seven runs.
Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood and off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed three wickets apiece, while Mitchell Starc and Steve O’Keefe picked up two each as the hosts were shot out shortly after lunch.
Debutant all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva (24) was the top scorer for Sri Lanka, who have lost their last two Test series in New Zealand and England.
Australia’s innings also got off to a shaky start as they lost David Warner and Joe Burns inside the first four overs before captain Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja calmed things down with an unbroken third-wicket stand of 59 runs. Smith, the world’s leading Test batsman in the ICC rankings, was on 28 while Khawaja was on 25 at the tea interval with Australia rebuilding on 66-2.
Rain then washed away the entire final session of the opening day.
Earlier, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bat on a dry pitch in the first match of the three-Test series.
Any hopes Mathews had of enjoying a strong start were shattered, however, when Australia pace duo Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc took full control with the new ball to reduce the hosts to 18-3 inside 10 overs.
Left-armer Starc, making his comeback after a long injury layoff, sent back Dimuth Karunaratne, with the opening batsman failing to get the umpire’s leg before wicket verdict overturned on review.
The 25-year-old Hazlewood, bowling an impeccable line and length, then dismissed Kusal Mendis and Kaushal Silva. — Reuters
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st innings
D Karunaratne lbw b Starc 5
K Silva c Voges b Hazlewood 4
K Mendis lbw b Hazlewood 8
D Chandimal c Nevill b Hazlewood 15
A Mathews c Smith b O’Keefe 15
D de Silva c Burns b Lyon 24
K Perera b Lyon 20
D Perera lbw b Lyon 0
R Herath lbw b Starc 6
L Sandakan not out 19
N Pradeep c Smith b O’Keefe 0
Extras (lb 1) 1
Total (all out; 34.2 overs) 117
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-15, 3-18, 4-43, 5-67, 6-87, 7-87, 8-94, 9-100
Bowling
M Starc 11-1-51-2
J Hazlewood 10-4-21-3
S O’Keefe 10.2-3-32-2
N Lyon 3-0-12-3
Australia 1st innings
J Burns b Herath 3
D Warner b Pradeep 0
U Khawaja not out 25
S Smith not out 28
Extras (b 4, lb 6) 10
Total (2 wickets; 20 overs) 66
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-7
Bowling
N Pradeep 5-3-3-1
R Herath 6-2-15-1
D Perera 4-1-19-0
L Sandakan 2-0-13-0
A Mathews 3-1-6-