Sri Lanka v Australia: first men’s cricket Test, day one – as it happened
Play will start 15 minutes early tomorrow, with 98 overs to be bowled.Angus Fontaine will be back then, and we’ll also have live coverage of the pink-ball Test at the MCG.Until then, goodnight.The covers are still on and the umpires have called play off for the day.It’s been a brilliant start to the series for Australia, who won an important toss and took full advantage.
Travis Head set the tone as only he can, larruping 57 from 40 balls in an opening stand of 92 in just 14.3 overs.Marnus Labuschagne missed out but Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith batted with a serene ruthlessness to make excellent centuries.Khawaja reverse swept with aplomb and Smith was in almost complete control.This week’s Spin is about a boy called Rocky“I’m sure I saw Psycho Scumbag Chatbots! perform at Selina’s Coogee Bay around 1984,” says Steve Williams.
“New wave punk metal… from hazy memory.”Their drummer was in The Fall for a couple of years until Mark E Smith attacked him with a lit fag.81.1 overs: Australia 330-2 (Khawaja 147, Smith 104) The heavens have opened and the players are leaving the field.It looks reasonably heavy so that might be it for the day.
81st over: Australia 330-2 (Khawaja 147, Smith 104) Khawaja lashes a reverse sweep for four off Jayasuriya, then survives an LBW appeal after missing an orthodox sweep.It would have turned past leg stump.Four singles make it a very good over for Australia, eight from it.80th over: Australia 322-2 (Khawaja 142, Smith 102) Eleven of Khawaja’s 16 Test hundreds have been 140+.He hasn’t hit a boundary since the 58th over but has shown precisely no sign of getting bored or impatient.
Two runs from Peiris’s over, at the end of which the fourth umpire runs on with the second new ball,79th over: Australia 320-2 (Khawaja 141, Smith 101) Jayasuriya replaces Vandersay, who bowled a weary spell of 5-0-26-0,He goes around the wicket to Smith this time, presumably in preparation for the second new ball; there’s no value in lobbing that outside leg stump,Khawaja reverse sweeps a single, the only run from the over,Jayasuriya has easily been the most accurate of the Sri Lanka bowlers.
78th over: Australia 319-2 (Khawaja 140, Smith 101) Khawaja and Smith are making this look so easy, and after a period of stalemate the runs are starting to come more easily; they’ve scored 29 in the last five overs,77,2 overs: Australia 316-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 100) There it is! Smith punches Peiris off the back for three to bring up a clinical century, his 35th in Tests,It felt almost inevitable from the very first ball, when he got the run he needed to reach 10,000 in Tests,It’s also Smith’s 16th hundred as captain and his first since the Boxing Day Test of 2017; only Graeme Smith, Virat Kohli and Ricky Ponting have more.
77th over: Australia 313-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 97) A long hop from Vandersay is carted through midwicket for four by Smith, who moves into the nineties.He’s starting to flow now.Two balls later he works a dipping full toss to the same part of the boundary, and a single off the last ball allows him to keep strike.He’s three away from Test hundred No35.76th over: Australia 304-2 (Khawaja 138, Smith 88) Peiris switches back around the wicket to Smith, but it has a deckchairs-on-the-Titanic feel to it.
Khawaja and Smith take two singles apiece, making it 14 from three overs since Jayasuriya went off.75th over: Australia 300-2 (Khawaja 136, Smith 86) Smith hits his first boundary in 25 overs.It would have been rude not to as it was a rank bad ball from Vandersay that Smith helped on its way to fine leg.A single from Khawaja, who is inching towards another big hundred, brings up Australia’s 300.74th over: Australia 294-2 (Khawaja 135, Smith 81) Peiris replaces Jayasuriya, who bowled an economical but unthreatening spell of 11-6-16-0.
That should increase the scoring rate, even if it just means more singles rather than a flurry of boundaries,Indeed it does, with Peiris’s first four deliveries all worked for low-no-risk singles,The cricket is pretty uneventful right now, so why not give this piece a read?73rd over: Australia 290-2 (Khawaja 133, Smith 79) Sri Lanka may need to change their approach here,You can bore out many modern batsmen but Khawaja and Smith aren’t among their number,They haven’t even tried to hit a boundary in the last 15 overs; they’re more than happy to stockpile singles and strengthen Australia’s grip on this Test.
72nd over: Australia 287-2 (Khawaja 131, Smith 78) Jayasuriya is starting to bowl the occasional straight ball to Smith, though the majority are still well outside leg stump.It’s another maiden, Jayasuriya’s fifth in the last seven overs.Smith’s record in the first innings of Tests is remarkable: 7254 runs at an average of 69.75 with a whopping 30 centuries and a conversion rate of 57 per cent.Of those with at least 1000 first innings runs, only Don Bradman, Adam Voges, Everton Weekes and Harry Brook have a higher average.
71st over: Australia 287-2 (Khawaja 131, Smith 78) Smith works Vandersay for a single to bring up a ruthless 150 partnership.Khawaja almost gets himself in trouble when he moves across his stumps to a lovely legbreak; he adjusts well to get his pad out of the way and push a single to mid-off.70th over: Australia 283-2 (Khawaja 129, Smith 76) Smith is starting to use his feet against Jayasuriya and works him wide of mid-on for two.Excellent placement.Smith went 12 Tests without a century, which is an age for him; he ended that run against India at Brisbane and is moving inexorably towards his third hundred in the last four Tests.
69th over: Australia 279-2 (Khawaja 128, Smith 73) Vandersay replaces Peiris and is milked for four singles, two of them from reverse sweeps by Khawaja.He’s played that shot beautifully all day.It’s been all dot balls and singles since tea.Sri Lanka have found a way to slow the scoring rate but they really, really need a wicket or three.68th over: Australia 275-2 (Khawaja 126, Smith 71) After facing 33 successive dot balls from Jayasuriya, Smith skips down to push a single to mid-on and prompt a sarcastic cheer from the crowd.
Khawaja top-edges a slog-sweep that lands well in front of the man at deep backward square.67th over: Australia 273-2 (Khawaja 125, Smith 70) Four singles from Peiris’s over; he has very modern figures of 17-0-77-0.There’s been only one boundary in the last 17 overs but that’s no problem for Australia.The longer they bat, the more the pitch will deteriorate.66th over: Australia 269-2 (Khawaja 123, Smith 68) Jayasuriya continues to bowl outside leg stump and into Smith’s front pad.
No sign yet of either man blinking; that’s Jayasuriya’s third maiden in a row since tea.65th over: Australia 269-2 (Khawaja 123, Smith 68) The on-field action is so sedate that the commentators are now focussing on a game in the outfield.It was quite confusing to hear a shout of “And he’s gone!” just as Steve Smith played an airtight defensive stroke.“Ominous signs of Smithsonian form from the jaundiced perspective of an England supporter,” says Brian Withington.“I saw from Angus’s earlier reply that young Konstas got dropped because he’s ‘unproven in Sri Lankan conditions’.
I’m just idly wondering how that avoids becoming a self-fulfilling lifetime ban?”Heh.It’s an unwritten rule of cricket that you have to pick a bespoke team when you play in Sri Lanka.But it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Josh Inglis gets big runs; Travis Head is perfect as an opener in these conditions but I’m not sure I’d want to risk him there against South Africa in the WTC final.64th over: Australia 267-2 (Khawaja 122, Smith 67) The Jayasuriya-Smith stalemate continues with another maiden.Sri Lanka are occasionally appealing for LBW even when the ball clearly pitches outside leg stump.
This isn’t 2001, lads,63rd over: Australia 267-2 (Khawaja 122, Smith 67) Peiris mirrors Jayasuriya by bowling outside leg stump to Khawaja,He pads up to the first ball then reverse sweeps another single,The ball is starting to turn more consistently; for now it’s slow turn but you’d expect it to quicken up as the game progresses,It’s already hard to see anything other than an Australian victory.
Mind you, it was hard to see anything other than a Sri Lanka victory at Colombo in 1992,I love that Test match for all kinds of reasons,62nd over: Australia 265-2 (Khawaja 121, Smith 66) Jayasuriya continues over the wicket to Smith, who kicks everything away,A maiden,If nothing else Sri Lanka have a degree of control for the first time: the last 11 overs have produced only 26 runs.
61st over: Australia 265-2 (Khawaja 121, Smith 66) The offspinner Nishan Peiris returns after tea.His first ball turns sharply but slowly to Khawaja, who pushes a single behind square on the off side.That’s the first of four low-risk singles in the over.I suppose Australia’s batters deserve a day like this after facing Jasprit Bumrah for five Tests.Khawaja and Smith look minded to wring every last run from this benign pitch.
Time for the evening session.There’s a small chance of rain but we should be okay; the forecast for days two and three isn’t quite so good.“Here’s the OBO first Test tea test,” writes Jeffrey Earp.“Pit Open AI against Deepseek in a challenge to write the best short story in the style of P.G.
Wodehouse featuring four characters named A,T,Holdstock, C,B,Gaffaney, J.
S.Wilson, L.E.Hannibal, and J J.Crowe.
Condition: the story must NOT mention a Test cricket umpiring decision.”On that note, I went for a coffee this morning and noticed that one of England’s national newspapers has a front-page headline that refers to “psycho scumbag chatbots”.Psycho scumbag chatbots!Standards really are slipping at the Guardian.60th over: Australia 261-2 (Khawaja 119, Smith 64) That was a near perfect session for Australia, with Khawaja and Smith adding 116 in 28 overs.They batted with increasing authority, Smith in particular, and Sri Lanka’s weary, demoralised bowlers could have a miserable evening session ahead.
59th over: Australia 260-2 (Khawaja 119, Smith 64) Khawaja made 184 runs in 10 innings against India; it won’t be a surprise if he exceeds that in this innings.Vandersay is able to continue despite those cramps.As he whirls through another uneventful over, UltraEdge shows that the second appeal against Khawaja in the previous over was not out – the ball was close to the glove but didn’t touch it.58th over: Australia 259-2 (Khawaja 118, Smith 63) Vandersay is down with what looks like cramp.That’s the last thing Sri Lanka need with only four specialist bowlers in the team.
When play resumes, Khawaja wallops a slog sweep for four off Jayasuriya; that’s a terrific shot.Khawaja misses successive reverse sweeps, both of which lead to big shouts for caught behind but not a review.We haven’t seen UltraEdge yet.57th over: Australia 254-2 (Khawaja 113, Smith 63) A nice legbreak from Vandersay is worked for a couple by Khawaja, who would have been plumb LBW had he missed it.Then he brings out the reverse sweep, a shot that has served him so well today, to collect another run
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