Resuming day 2 on 229 for 9 wickets, Kusal Mendis and Lahiru Kumara must be given a thumbs up for stiching a 33-run partnership for the 10th wicket that gives a clear indication that the pitch at Galle had no terrors, but that senior batters from the Sri Lankan batting cordon lacked application and the prerequisite to play test innings against a quality world class bowling attack backed by excellent field settings and brilliant catching and ground fielding skills.
Kusal Mendis’ unbeaten 85, his shot selection and execution deserved him a hundred for his effort, but without support from the rest of the top order batters and the eternal virus of putting up with fragile tailenders who only make NUMBERS its difficult for a number 7 batter to achieve a hundred in such bleak circumstances. All credit to Kusal Mendis for his 85 and for Dinesh Chandimal for his 74, because these are the only two batters that turned up for Sri Lanka, whilst the rest looked out of sorts. It’s fair to state that Dimuth Karunaratne did his job , nevertheless, he knows as well as his critics that 36 runs must be concerted to a three figure score, especially as an opener in this day and age in modern-day cricket.
Australia looked in disarray at one stage, losing both Travis Head and Marnus Labuchange with the total on 37 before the mid break, after which the loss of twin Centurian Usman Kawaja 36 early in the second session with the score on 91 and Sri Lanka looked right back in the game.
This joy was short-lived. With Buffet deliveries, Sri Lanka’s inexperienced bowling unit was exposed by skipper Steven Smith and Alex Carey who masterfully stiched a partnership of an unbroken stand of 239 runs for the 4th wicket to end day 2 on 330 for three wickets with a formidable lead of 73 runs ahead with 7 wickets in hand.
Day 3 is good for batting. Sri Lanka now has the luxury of the new ball with Alex Carey unbeaten on 139 and Steve Smith on 120, but have they got fire power in their inexperienced bowling attack to trouble the classy well set Australian batters at the wickets and the rest to follow from the pavilion?
Mitch Starc, the lone seamer for Australia, not only bowled conventional seam with the new ball but also reverse swung the old ball with excellent arm speed which Lahiru Kumara is lacking as the loan seamer in the Sri Lankan bowling cordon.
Smith and Carey gave all of us a display of professional test batsmanship, putting away the buffet deliveries with great timing and ferocity, running well between the wickets with great intent, converting the singles to twos and displaying great fitness levels in humid and challenging conditions as aliens and showing a classic example of master class batsmanship.
Carey, the wicket keeper, not only played the conventional sweep, that all wicket keepers are known to execute as a natural talent, he also reverse swept, back cut to great precision but also improvised in lofted shots to register 3 big sixes in his vigil, unbeaten on 139. Fantastic knock.
Steve Smith, on the other hand, has had a memorable tour so far and batted with class in showing the Sri Lankan top order how to compile runs in test cricket.
He recorded his 36th century, the second on tour becoming the highest run scorer in the subcontinent conditions in beating the record held by Ricky Ponting. He also recorded his 7th test century in subcontinent conditions and his 4th against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.
What a record by the modern-day great, a batter cut above the rest in any condition.
Sri Lanka has no answers so far. Keep your fingers crossed because a 2 nil whitewash is becoming a reality.
Chief Scores
Sri Lanka 1st innings 257 (97.4 Overs)
(Dinesh Chandimal 74, Kusal Mendis 59, Dimuth Karunaratne 36, Ramesh Mendis 28, Mitchell Starc 3/37, Matthew Kuhnemann 3/63, Nathan Lyon 3/96, Travis Head 1/31)
Australia first iñnings 330/3 (80 Overs)
(Alex Carey n.o. 139, Steve Smith n.o. 120, Usman Khawaja 36, Travis Head 21, Nishan Peiris 2/70, Prabath Jayasuriya 1/107)
