Australia amass 654, Sri Lanka in dire straits

Usman Khawaja celebrates his double hundred (Pic courtesy SLC)

By M. Shamil Amit reporting from Galle

Sri Lanka were on dire straits as they ended day two on 44 for three having faced 15 overs after Australia amassed a massive score of 654 for six declared in the first Test match played at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

The Sri Lanka bowlers were made to toil but in contrast the Australian bowlers pinned down the host side batting with the left and right-arm spin duo of Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon and pacie Mitchell Starc making use of the opportunities to grab three top order wickets of Oshada Fernando, Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews. 

Earlier, Australia continued their domination for the second successive day and the day belonged to opener Usman Khawaja and debutant Josh Inglis, after Skipper Steven Smith made a useful contribution to help bolster the sides’ score.

Khawaja slammed his maiden double ton making 232 to better his unbeaten knock of 195 against South Africa achieved in 2023 and added to that it was the highest scored by an Australian in Sri Lanka surpassing Justin Langer’s knock of 166 made in 2004.

For Inglis it was a successful start to his Test career and his knock of 102 came off in just 94 balls as he continued to torment the Sri Lanka bowlers following his senior players.
The overnight pair of Khawaja and Smith continued their domination and went on to post Australia’s 400 runs on the board before Smith fell victim to spinner Prabath Jayasuriya having made 141, which was his 35th ton and also sharing a massive 266-run stand for the third wicket with Khawaja.

Khawaja found another reliable partner in debutant Inglis and the pair frustrated the Sri Lanka bowlers and with Khawaja having reached his double ton the visitors went into the lunch break with a formidable score of 475 for three with Khawaja unbeaten on 204 and Inglis on 44.

The post lunch session too was successful for the Aussies despite pacie Asitha Fernando being given the ball for the first time in the day’s proceedings and Inglis raced to his half ton with the minimum of fuss in 51 balls.

This followed with the pair posting the 100-run stand for the fourth wicket and with four runs away from their 150-run partnership Khawaja’s marathon innings came to an end with Jayasuriya making the breakthrough with the wicket of Khawaja who made 232 in 352 balls with 16 boundaries and a six.

Inglis did not last long as he fell victim to Jayasuriya after reaching his ton in just 94 balls with 10 boundaries and a six.

Later, Alex Carey along with Beau Webster put on a 59-run stand for the sixth wicket, which followed with Australia making their declaration with the score on 654 for six.