Spinners bowl Australia to win in first Test

By Shehan Daniel reporting from Galle

It was a case of right approach but atrocious execution from Sri Lanka’s batters, succumbing to a spectacular collapse and a 10-wicket defeat to Australia in the first Test on Friday.

Sri Lanka started their second innings with a 109-run deficit, and just 22.5 overs later were bowled out for 113 -- effectively surrendering all 10 wickets for 76 runs after a 37-run opening wicket partnership.
It was the quickest Sri Lanka has ever been bowled out in a Test innings in terms of overs faced, and if the three and half hours lost on day two is discounted, the Australians achieved victory in less than two days of play.

Worryingly, this was the third time in 18 months that Sri Lanka have struggled against spinners in Galle, the two previous instances when England toured Sri Lanka last January, and the home team was bowled out for scores of 135 and 126. 

Australia’s spinners seemed almost unplayable, extracting the sharp turn and bounce on offer on the Galle pitch, something Sri Lanka's spinners, with the exception of Ramesh Mendis, struggled to do consistently. 

Sri Lanka's aggressive approach was justified on this particular wicket, but lacked the finesse, skill and judiciousness that Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green and Travis Head had shown in making significant contributions to Australia's first innings score of 313. 

Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson made the early inroads, and so conducive were the conditions to spin bowling that part-time spinner Travis Head was their best bowler on the day. 

He would have been pinching himself in disbelief at how easily he produced a career-best bowling performance, taking for 4 for 10 in just 17 balls, despite having no Test wickets to his name until yesterday, troubling the batters in a way that would have impressed the two legends whose names are on the trophy.

The visitors needed just four runs to win and it took David Warner just three balls to get them.

The Australian batters had shown a blueprint for success on this pitch, with their aggressive and intentional approach – sweeping and using their feet to either get back or go forward, to negate the spin early.

Sri Lanka’s batters attempted to replicate that approach, but failed spectacularly, especially when the Australian spinners started hitting the right lines and lengths, and employed subtle variations. 

The start was promising for the hosts, as Pathum Nissanka drove Mitchell Starc for a boundary off the first ball of the innings, and Dimuth Karunaratne took three more boundaries at the back end of that over, adding another in Starc’s next.

Karunaratne then swept Lyon for a fifth boundary giving Sri Lanka 30 runs in 4 overs, but the spinner proved his adeptness, when the Sri Lanka captain attempted a similar shot only to unedge it to wicket-keeper Alex Carey.

Nissanka was then adjudged leg before wicket to Swepson in the next over, again looking to sweep, before a 20-run partnership between Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando, who was drafted in last morning after Angelo Mathews tested positive for Covid-19, appeared to get Sri Lanka back on track.

However, Mendis was caught at deep backward square, falling to a misjudged sweep, and Fernando soon followed, reducing Sri Lanka to 63 for 4.

Australian captain Pat Cummins turned to the off-spin of Head, with a partnership between Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva forming, and he delivered immediately. 
Chandimal seemed to have covered a delivery that pitched just outside off-stump, but so vicious was the turn that the ball slipped between bat and pad and crashed into the stumps.

De Silva followed in the same over, inexplicably padding up to a ball that turned straight towards the stumps.

96 for 6 escalated quickly to 108 for 8, when Ramesh Mendis and Niroshan Dickwella were caught attempting sweep shots, both to Lyon.
Head wrapped up the innings with the wickets of Jeffrey Vandersay and Lasith Embuldeniya in the next over.

Sri Lanka’s first order of business for the day was damage limitation, to stop the Australians adding significantly to their 101-run lead from day two.

That went fairly well for the hosts, with Asitha Fernando removing Pat Cummins and Mitchell Swepson with reverse swing yorkers in the second over of the day, with the visitors adding eight runs to their overnight score.