Head start drowns out Konstas debate before Khawaja, Smith capitalise

Galle: “Happy birthday!” used to be the cry of Les Favell as he ran down the wicket to belt spin bowlers when captain of South Australia.

That sort of buccaneering spirit was channelled by another Croweater, Travis Head, during a brutal innings that cleared the way for Usman Khawaja (147 not out) and Steve Smith (104 not out) to sculpt centuries on a domineering day for Australia against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja both notched centuries on day 1 of the first Test. Credit: AP

Watched by a crowd that appeared to be composed largely of Australian tourists for the first overseas Test match played in January by Australia since 1970, Head wasted absolutely no time wresting momentum for his team, in sharp contrast to his struggles on this ground when playing more tentatively in 2022.

He tore into the home side’s bowlers from the first over of the match, cuffing 13 from the seamer Ajitha Fernando, instantly putting the Australians on the front foot, much as the national selectors had hoped he would. Head’s 50 arrived in 35 balls.

By the time Head (57, 40 balls) clumped one down the ground to be caught at long on, Australia had 92 runs on the board inside 15 overs, and against spread fields Khawaja and Smith were ruthless in exploiting that start.

Sri Lanka spurned a bevy of chances to get into the game, and it took until the final session for the captain Dhananjaya de Silva to try more readily to clamp the scoring rate. A tally of 2-330 when rain brought an early stumps, left the tourists well and truly in control of the match.

Although not as dry as some pitches seen in Galle in the past, this one showed signs of expansive turn on day one and can be expected to keep lower as the game goes on. Australia picked three spinners, Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy, with all-rounder Beau Webster to support Mitchell Starc.

There will, of course, be questions about the merits of shuffling Head to the top and replacing the 19-year-old Sam Konstas with middle order spin specialist Josh Inglis. His parents arrived in Galle at 4am on match day after a dash from Perth to be here for his cap presentation from fellow West Australian Geoff Marsh.

But that debate was soon drowned out by Head’s percussive pounding of leather on willow. Certainly Khawaja, author of his 16th Test hundred, and Smith, who reached 10,000 runs first ball and went on to carve out his 35th hundred in Tests, did not complain about the way things were made easier by Head’s opening salvos.

Things may well have been different had the Sri Lankans been more resourceful with the opportunities that came their way. Head would have been given lbw on review to Fernando early on had Dhananjaya chosen to review a not out decision, and similarly Khawaja might have been caught behind off Prabath Jayasuriya (1-102).

Travis Head bats in Galle.Credit: Getty Images

Khawaja was also turfed at slip by Dhanajaya shortly before Jeffery Vandersay (1-93) nipped out Marnus Labuschagne with a leg break. The nadir arrived when Jayasuriya missed a return catch offered by Smith second ball - immediately after he had flicked to midwicket to belatedly raise 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Little wonder Jayasuriya hurled the ball to the turf in disgust.

Chances aside, Khawaja’s innings maintained an extraordinary recent record of success in this part of the world. He was decisive with his foot movement, liberal in his use of both orthodox and reverse sweeps, and maintained concentration for long periods.

Two days out from the match, Khawaja had a seemingly endless net session against local bowlers, honing his mental focus as much as technique. He slipped seamlessly into the kind of batting cocoon he occupied in Pakistan in 2022 and India in 2023, and now shares with Allan Border the distinction of being the only two Australians to have made Test hundreds in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

At 38, Khawaja is not getting any younger. But the way he excelled in Galle tended to back up his assertion in Australia that struggles on home soil against India were less to do with waning powers than with simply getting “Bumrah’d” by the world’s premier fast bowler in helpful conditions for seamers.

Smith was briefly skittish at the start of his innings, eager to reach the milestone previously only passed by Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting among Australians. But over the final two sessions he was in complete control against anything the Sri Lankans hurled at him, barely mistiming a single ball.

After questions about Smith’s recent output and perhaps his motivation to continue, a volley of three centuries in four Tests has quietened those thoughts. Memories of a bad defeat here in 2016, and then the missed opportunity of a 1-1 tie in 2022, doubtless steeled him to go big.

Late in the day, a well-hydrated member of the crowd was apprehended by security after running onto the field with a banner exclaiming “Give Me Head”. The Australian selectors’ earlier request for him had certainly been answered in the affirmative.

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