SL vs AUS (2nd Test – Day 1) – Highlights
One of the best batsmen in Australia, Steven Smith, scored a century after almost a year and a half yesterday. Steven Smith and Virat Kohli, one of the greatest Test batsmen of recent times, seemed to be losing control over the game. However, Smith has gotten a ton after a big time. Marnus Labuschagne, one of the best batsmen in Australia, has scored a century alongside him.
Australia is in the driver’s seat on the first day of the second Test against hosts Sri Lanka. They’ve begun their innings with a pair of centuries. They lost 5 wickets and collected 298 runs. Labuschagne was out for 104 runs, but Steven Smith ended the day unbeaten on 109 runs. This is the 28th Test century of his career.
Virat Kohli has not been able to hit a century while playing more than 110 innings in recent days. Some might consider him a burden to the Indian Cricket Team now, where the rookies are performing better than him. On the other hand, when Kohli and Smith completed 27 centuries of their career, Joe Root of England had 17 centuries.
On the other hand, bypassing this bad time of Smith-Kohli, England’s Joe Root has scored his 28th century. Whether thinking about that or not, Steven Smith has tried well to get out of his shell this time.
The century he got after a long time has brought him great relief. Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in the first Test at Galle. He got a chance to bat in one innings in that match and was run out for only 6 runs.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat, and they lost David Warner (5) to score only 15 runs. After that, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne handled the danger by building up a pair of 55 runs. Ramesh Mendis bowled Usman Khawaja when he made 37 runs.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith then put on 134 runs for the third wicket partnership. Labuschagne was dismissed whilst the team total was 204 runs. Prabath Jayasuriya, the anointed bowler, sent him back to the dressing room. Before getting out, Labuschagne picked up the 7th century of his career. He returned to the pavilion with 104 runs off 156 balls in 12 boundaries.
The debutant left-arm Orthodox spinner then picked up two more wickets. Travis Head was dismissed for just 12 runs, and Cameron Green got out, scoring just four runs. But in the end, Smith remained unbeaten on 109 off 212 balls with 13 boundaries. He is accompanied by wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey (16*).
For the Lankans, Prabath Jayasuriya has taken 3 wickets on the day, and with his good performance, the team is expecting to wrap the Aussie innings as soon as possible. Besides, Kasun Rajitha and Ramesh Mendis took 1 wicket each for the hosts.
Sri Lanka must make a positive start on the second day if they wish to get a good grip on the match. However, it won’t be easy for the Lankans to bring the match in their favour as the Aussie great has got his rhythm back after a long time.
SL vs AUS Scoreboard
Australia (1st Innings) – 298/5 (90.0)
SL vs AUS Playing XIs
| SL | Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Ramesh Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, and Prabath Jayasuriya. |
| AUS | Pat Cummins (c), Alex Carey (wk), David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, and Mitchell Swepson. |