"Cannot see Sri Lanka getting close to Australia....": Tim Paine

Melbourne [Australia], February 4 (ANI): Ahead of the second Test against Australia at Galle, former Australian captain Tim Paine said that he does not see Lankan Lions coming any close to the visitors on any surface.

The second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia will take place at Galle from February 6 onwards. With Australia, already having booked a spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), leading 1-0, Sri Lanka would like to bow out of their most successful WTC campaign on a high.

Ahead of the match, SEN cited Paine as heaping praises on Australia's all-round performance in the first Test, which they won by an innings and 242 runs.

"I think Steve Smith said himself in the post-game press conference that the performance was close to flawless," Paine told SEN.

"That is from Travis Head at the start, Usman Khawaja controlling most of that innings, Steve Smith coming out and playing like the wizard he is in those conditions, and then Josh Inglis on debut to score a Test match 100 is a really special moment for him."

"Then the bowlers, (Matt) Kuhnemann, (Nathan) Lyon, (Todd) Murphy and (Mitchell) Starc were all spot on the money."

"When you have got players of that quality - a bit like the women's team, play as well as they do - there are not too many teams that can go near them."

"Sri Lanka at the moment, unfortunately, I cannot see them getting close to Australia on any surface," he concluded.

Sri Lanka squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka (subject to fitness), Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)