Australia v Sri Lanka: Stay up to date with the latest news and action from the second Test
Nathan Lyon is Australia’s new Marathon Man, smashing records in the Second Test in Sri Lanka. But the Aussie brains trust and fielders have done the star spinner no favours.
Nathan Lyon nearly set a new career record for overs in a single innings bowling more than 50 for the third time in five matches as Sri Lankan control replaced the external chaos of the day before and the home team ground Australia’s bowlers down in the second Test.
Just a week after taking 20 Sri Lankan wickets in only 81.5 overs to win the first Test, the Australians took just six in 149 of the rematch after burned reviews, missed chances and quality batting turned the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.
Lyon’s total of 56 overs was just short of his career high 57.2, bowled in Sydney in 2019, with the Australia ironman netting just two wickets as reward, a victim of his team using its three reviews early as well as a series of close calls and near misses.
It was the most overs bowled by an Australian in a single innings in Sri Lanka and just the seventh time in his 110 -Test career the star spinner had been needed to produce 50 or more.
The lack of reviews didn’t just hurt Lyon with Dinesh Chandimal posting Sri Lanka’s first century of the series after a not out call, when he edged a ball off Mitchell Starc to Alex Carey on 31, couldn’t be challenged by the appealing Australians who used all three opportunities inside 80 overs.
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A botched stumping by Australian keeper Carey in Lyon’s 48th over was another missed opportunity which former Australian keeper Brad Haddin, in commentary in Galle, said was a “serious lapse in concentration” brought about by the Sri Lankan batting wall with the home team passing Australia’s first innings total of 364 just four wickets down.
It also put the second morning Australian batting collapse, when the tourists lost 5-35, into stark perspective as the Sri Lankans took full toll on a wicket which was the complete opposite of the vicious turner which ended the first contest last week inside three days.
But at the end of day three this time Sri Lanka was 6-431 and 67 runs in front with Chandimal 118 not out and bossing a game with the pitch still expected to fall in favour of the slow bowlers as the match goes on, and the home team is stacked with them.
Australian captain Pat Cummins threw what he could at the local batters including dual leg-spinners at both ends when he introduced Marnus Labuschange as a seventh bowler to roll in tandem with Mitchell Swepson who took 2-90.
First innings centurion Steve Smith was adamant the batter-friendly wicket would “still play pretty well” for part of day three and the Aussies would have to be patient and not “go searching for wickets” after a three-day Test opened the series.
But they did just that as they churned through all three reviews before lunch.
There were two in Lyon’s opening two overs with the second going his way to remove Kusal Mendis LBW for 85.
But the next ones did not go Australia’s way, and having lost their first review on Saturday two more, an LBW shout undone by an under edge from Sri Lankan batter Angelo Mathews, then a second after a catch at short-leg failed to make any contact with the bat off Mendis, spent the visitors’ chances
That hurt Australia twice immediately after lunch when another LBW appeal from Lyon went unrewarded, despite being out, and then umpire Kumar Dharmasena failed to hear the nick from Chandimal.
Starc had earlier got the crucial wicket of Sri Lankan veteran Mathews the ball after another unsuccessful LBW appeal, courtesy of a sharp catch at short-leg by Marnus Labuschagne.
Australian bowling coach Dan Vettori even made a boundary-line visit to Lyon, who was cramping late in the day, to talk through ways to find the wickets which wouldn’t come.
Lyon’s monster effort bettered the 55 and 52 overs he bowled in two of the recent Tests in Pakistan, but fell well short of the 77 bowled by left-armer Steve O’Keefe in Ranchi against India in 2017, the most by an Australian this century.
Cricket’s wild day: Defiant Lankans match off-field resistance
An unforgettable day in Sri Lanka’s off-field history provided the surreal backdrop for some defiant on-field resistance from the home team as the second Test in Galle became a footnote to a movement which even impacted the wide-eyed Australians.
As the sounds of celebratory chants and constant explosion of fireworks enveloped the seaside oval after a successful storming of the presidential residence 150km north in Colombo, the Sri Lankan batsmen dug in for the fight against labouring Australian bowlers on a pitch playing none of the tricks seen in the first Test last week.
Some of Sri Lanka’s greatest ever players, including Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya were at the epicentre of the historic action in the country’s capital with their current day compatriots doing their bit to further stir the raucous activities surrounding the seaside arena.
The action outside the gates in Galle began before the start of a long day in the middle with protesters denied the chance to get to Colombo by public transport bans instead relocating just 200m from the pitch, before it turned to beeping horns and convoys of cars carrying flag waving locals cheering the news from the north.
The positive actions were matched by first the Sri Lankan bowlers who snared all five remaining Australian wickets in the first session, with run-machine Steve Smith left stranded on 145 not out as the tourists were rolled for 364.
It was a score which proved more than enough to win the opening Test but as the mood of the country changed so too did that of the Sri Lankan batters who looked a long way removed from those men who rolled over so easily in the opening clash.
Home team captain Dimuth Karunaratne led from the front with 86, before he was out lbw to Mitchell Swepson late in the day, with Kusal Mendis not out on 84 after Australia threw six bowlers at Sri Lanka who reached 2-184 at stumps, still 180 in arrears.
The only other wicket came off courtesy of a stunning Cameron Green catch in the gully.
Speaking over the boundary from third man, Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon, who bowled … unsuccessful overs, was adamant the wicket “will do something” but noted it would require extreme patience from the tourists after the first game was played in fast-forward.
But even a change of ends, from where Lyon took nine wickets in the opening Test, and even a changed ball after complaints from the Aussies couldn’t muster the wickets needed to steal back control of the match.
Smith had earlier done his part but was left short of an eighth score of 150 or more in Tests amid some questionable batting tactics with the tail and renewed vigour from the Sri Lankan spinners with first-gamer Prabatah Jayasuriya finishing with 6-118.
The Aussies arrived in Sri Lanka well aware of the economic crisis gripping the country with the unrest prompting a squadron of commandos to travel in convoy with them.
But they had been welcomed warmly from the moment they arrived in June and aware Saturday was set to produce the sort of protests seen in Colombo, captain Pat Cummins moved to acknowledge the plight of the locals posting a video on social media urging people to show their support via UNICEF, for which the skipper is an ambassador.
Cummins had revealed how his interaction with two young girls brought home just how significant the daily battle for food and fuel remains.
“We’ve been following it closely. It is something we spoke about in our team meetings as well,” he said.
“I was on a call yesterday and was chatting to some young girl cricketers. They’re from a fishing village and a lot of them can’t go out to fish because they have no petrol. We are certainly seeing the effects. That has really hit home for us.
“No matter what the result is, we are in a really privileged position and there are lots of people that are making this happen for us to have a bit of fun and go out and play cricket.”
Aussie ascendancy a surreal backdrop to wild protest
The storming of the Sri Lankan president’s residence in Colombo by angry protesters supported by thousands of like-minded and loud demonstrators outside the cricket stadium in Galle provided a surreal backdrop for day two of the second Test against Australia.
The constant and irrepressible chant of the angry local protesters, who had earlier surrounded the seaside venue demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksathe resign, before settling at the back gate of the ground, was broken only by explosive bursts of celebratory firecrackers.
One rang out loudly among the cheering throng of people, who were gathered less than 200m from the pitch at the Galle International stadium, following a stunning Cameron Green catch which produced the lone second session wicket for the tourists whose presence remained a welcome one by the locals.
Among the huge gathering of demonstrators, who were unmoved for hours, there was a sign saying “Thank you Cricket Australia” despite a thumping first Test victory and the sense another is at the Aussie’s disposal after racking up 364 in their first innings on the back of an unbeaten 145 from batting dynamo Steve Smith.
The Aussies lost 5-66 in the opening session with Smith left short of his eighth score of 150 or more amid some questionable batting tactics with the tail and renewed vigour from the Sri Lankan spinners with first-gamer Prabatah Jayasuriya finishing with 6-118 on a wicket turning more by the over.
But spin star Nathan Lyon, who ran through the Sri Lankans last weekend couldn’t find a way through in his 10 overs, which included a change of ends and a change of ball, after Mitchell Starc had earlier removed opener Pathum Nissanka courtesy of Green’s ripping catch in the gully.
Green was even brought on to bowl his first overs of the series as Sri Lanka pushed to 1-65 by tea, surpassing, in batting time at least, their meek 22 over surrender last time they batted with captain Dimuth Karunaratne digging in.
Despite Lyon’s lack of early return, Australian run-machine Marnus Labuschange said he expected the veteran to come to the fore again with the wicket likely to deteriorate from the favourable early batting conditions.
“Nathan spins it on glass, so I’m sure he’s going to get some turn and bounce on that wicket,” Labuschagne said.
“And same with Swepo. They’re both big spinners of the ball. So I think that’s a real advantage for us.
“We’ve got two bowlers who are probably going to put more revs on the ball than their bowlers, which is just going to create probably more of that inconsistent spin.”
Prior to play Cummins moved to acknowledge the plight of the locals posting a video on social media urging people to show their support via UNICEF, for which the skipper is an ambassador.
“Day to day life here in Sri Lanka is tough at the moment,” Cummins said in the video which was viewed by more than 30,000 people.
Cummins had revealed how his interaction with two young girls brought home just how significant the daily plight remains for the locals.
“We’ve been following it closely. It is something we spoke about in our team meetings as well,” he said.
“I was on a call yesterday and was chatting to some young girl cricketers. They’re down to one meal a day and are going to school a couple of days a week because the teachers can’t get to school.
“They’re from a fishing village and a lot of them can’t go out to fish because they have no petrol. We are certainly seeing the effects. That has really hit home for us.
“No matter what the result is, we are in a really privileged position and there are lots of people that are making this happen for us to have a bit of fun and go out and play cricket. So we are really lucky.”
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