Home ›› 02 Jul 2022 ›› Sport
Spinner Nathan Lyon starred with a match haul of nine wickets as Australia wrapped up the opening Test on Friday with a crushing victory over Sri Lanka before lunch on the third day.
The hosts were bundled out for 113 in their second innings allowing the Australians to seal a 10-wicket victory in their first over back at the crease in Galle.
Lyon, whose five-for helped bowl out Sri Lanka for 212 in the first innings, and fellow spinner Travis Head took four wickets each to send the hosts packing before the morning was over.
It was a huge victory for Australia, who suffered a 3-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka on their last tour in 2016.
“Amazing win. Turning up this morning I didn’t think it was going to happen that fast,” skipper Pat Cummins said. “Really proud of the squad. It’s really foreign conditions for us.”
Opener Usman Khawaja (71) and Cameron Green (77) stood out in Australia’s first innings effort of 321 that made them take control in extreme spin conditions.
Green put on crucial partnerships with Khawaja and then wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey to handle the spinners well.
“Players go through their whole careers looking for a method in these conditions, and in his first knock he’s found it,” Cummins said of the 23-year-old Green who was named man of the match.
Sri Lanka suffered a blow before play began when Angelo Mathews was ruled out due to Covid-19, with Oshada Fernando named his replacement.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne started strong, smashing four boundaries in the first over of the innings. But the tables soon turned when Lyon and fellow spinner Mitchell Swepson took charge.
Lyon got skipper Karunaratne caught behind for 23 after just 20 balls while Swepson trapped Pathum Nissanka lbw for 14. The leg-spinner then got Oshada caught out in the 12th over as Sri Lanka slipped to 63-4.
Wickets kept tumbling with SL batsmen trying to hit their way out of trouble. Head, an occasional spinner, struck twice in his first over to claim Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva.
