Australia’s Usman Khawaja leaves the ground after losing his wicket during day two of the first test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle, Sri Lanka, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

Sri Lanka was staring down the barrel at 44-3 after Australia achieved its largest ever total in Asia — 654-6 declared — on day two of the first test on Thursday.

Fatigued after spending five and a half sessions fielding under the scorching sun, Sri Lanka’s batting resistance was minimal.

Oshada Fernando was the first to fall for 7, trapped leg before by Matthew Kuhnemann, setting the tone for a challenging evening.

Former captains Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews didn’t last long either, both victims of Australia’s exceptional fielding.

Karunaratne fell on 7 to a spectacular catch at gully off Mitchell Starc, and Mathews was dismissed for 7 in stunning fashion — caught by Travis Head from bat-pad to Nathan Lyon’s off-spin.

Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis weathered some testing moments to reach stumps as Sri Lanka remain precariously placed at 610 runs down with three days to go on a deteriorating pitch.

“We are far too behind in the game at the moment,” Sri Lanka leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay said. “I don’t think there’s too much on the wicket. They had clear plans against all our spinners. The important thing is to get closer to their total. We should not focus on reaching the follow-on.” Australia resumed the day on 330-2 with opener Usman Khawaja and stand-in captain Steve Smith already on centuries.

Smith, who passed 10,000 test runs on day one, pushed on to a masterful 141 off 251 balls. His 266-run stand with Khawaja stands as the highest third-wicket partnership in tests between the teams.

They eclipsed the previous best stand of 200 between Adam Gilchrist and Damien Martyn in Kandy in 2004.

After Smith was trapped leg before by Vandersay, Khawaja remained unruffled, rotating the strike superbly and punishing loose deliveries with precision. He went on to his maiden double century and Josh Inglis became the 21st Australian to score a century on debut.

Khawaja’s eight-hour-plus knock of 232 off 352 balls was historic — the first Australian to score a double hundred in Sri Lanka. His is Australia’s highest individual test score against Sri Lanka. At 38, he’s second only to Don Bradman to score a double century for Australia. Khawaja edged behind to slow left-armer Prabath Jayasuriya.

“Usman Khawaja was patient and waited for the loose balls and swept so well,” Vandersay said. “Josh Inglis showed lot of intent as well and it’s tough to contain when they are stepping out of the crease and putting us under pressure.” Inglis wasted no time asserting himself, taking on the bowlers and racing to his century off just 90 deliveries, the second fastest for a men’s debut. India’s Shikhar Dhawan took 85 balls in 2013 against Australia. Inglis’ attacking approach, combined with Khawaja’s measured brilliance, combined for 146 runs for the fourth wicket, cementing Australia’s dominance.

Inglis made 102 off 94 balls, also edging Jayasuriya behind.

“I tried to be proactive and put bowlers under pressure,” Inglis said. “If you are stuck for three to four balls, the next ball will probably have your name in it.”

The England-born Inglis has played for Australia in one-day internationals and Twenty20s since 2022, and said he owed his parents a lot for moving from Yorkshire to Perth in 2010.

“Whenever we play England, everyone in the dressing room is asking what anthem I am going to sing. It’s a good one,” he said. “You can’t choose where you were born. It’s part of my story.”

While Australia made merry on a placid surface, signs of turn emerged late on day two, offering a glimmer of hope for the spinners. The pitch is expected to deteriorate further, making survival increasingly difficult – especially with Australia boasting three specialist spinners.

The rainy weather conditions have given Australia a selection problem for the opening test against Sri Lanka starting Wednesday, although one thing seems certain: Travis Head will open the batting.

Stand-in captain Steve Smith has hinted at a range of strategies under consideration depending on the weather, but highlighted that Head — who is typically a dependable presence in the middle order — has previously thrived as an opener in Asian conditions.

“Travis will go to the top,” Smith said at a news conference. “The selectors liked what they saw in India when he opened. He attacked the new ball, scored quickly, and immediately put the opposition under pressure. We’re expecting a similar impact here.”

Head’s promotion to the top means 19-year-old Sam Konstas, who had a sensational debut in the Boxing Day test against India last month, could either slide down the order or be excluded from the XI entirely. Smith hinted at the latter, with Josh Inglis in line for his test debut.

“Josh has been around the group for a while and played a lot of cricket. He’s got excellent skills against spin, scores all around the wicket, and has a solid defense. If he gets his chance, I’m confident he’ll do a great job,” Smith said.

The tourists are also expected to include left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, who is poised to partner Nathan Lyon in what would be his first test in two years.

“Conditions have been fluctuating over the past few days, and with the rain around, we’ll wait until tomorrow morning to name the side,” Smith explained. “Ideally, we’d prefer to lock in our XI a couple of days in advance, but things change rapidly here, so we’ll leave it until the last minute.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka confirmed that opener Pathum Nissanka will miss the first test due to a groin injury, with Oshada Fernando likely to take his place.

“Pathum is ruled out for the first test, but we’re optimistic about his return for the second game,” Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said.

Although the World Test Championship finalists are already decided, de Silva emphasized that his team remains highly motivated.

“We’re determined to reclaim the Warne-Murali Trophy,” he said. “I still remember winning it during my debut series in 2016, but we lost it in 2019 and couldn’t win it back when the Aussies were here in 2022. Also, we’ve had a strong World Test Championship campaign overall and if we win both tests, we’ll finish third in the table. That’s a huge motivator for us.”

Squads

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

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

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Adrian Holdstock (South Africa)

Third Umpire: Joel Wilson (West Indies)

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)

Prep time: Australia’s Green at a practice session on the eve of the game against Sri Lanka. 
| Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA

After facing its heaviest World Cup defeat on Thursday against South Africa, Australia captain Pat Cummins said the mood in the camp was fantastic and that the team was treating every game as a final, starting from Monday against Sri Lanka.

“Everyone after the last game was a little bit flat, but the last couple of days have been really good… The mood in the camp has been fantastic,” he said on match eve. “Every game now becomes almost like a final. You’ve got to win just about all of them,” he added.

Interestingly, the only two games the Aussies lost ahead of the semifinals at the World Cup in 2019 were against India and South Africa, the same two sides they have tasted defeat against in their first two games in 2023. “Looking back at 2019, India and South Africa were the two teams that we lost to in the round games there.

“I think in the last year, they’re kind of the two teams that we’ve had the most trouble against.

“So, the opportunity now is we’ve got some teams we haven’t played for a while that we’ve had a lot of success against,” Cummins said.