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Steve Smith is confident that Australia can still win in a different way as he confirms Cooper Connolly’s debut in place of Todd Murphy.
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Hello and welcome to the first day of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia from Galle*.
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Australia pummelled the home side in the first game, running out winners by an innings and 242 runs to inflict Sri Lanka’s heaviest defeat in their Test history. What to do in response to such a shellacking? The home side seem to be turning to spin to help them get something out of this two match series – by all accounts the surface for this game is drier than the bottom of a parrot’s cage.
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The conditions could well see 21-year-old left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly make his Test debut for Australia and we’ll definitely witness the 100th and final Test of Sri Lanka’s 36-year-old opening batter who goes by the full name of Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne.
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Play begins at 10am local time, 3.30pm AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with news of the teams and toss. As ever, do get in touch on the email linked at the left hand side of this page if you are tuning in. Your company and comments are always appreciated.
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* By way of a sofa in south London. You can’t have it all.
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Important events
Verified Team:
Sri Lanka Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhanajaya de Silva (Capt), Kusal Mendis (WK), Ramesh Mend is, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lahiru Kumara
Australia Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (Capt), Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (WK), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Na than Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann
The first ball is about 15 minutes away, but are you going to see a hard turn from the off? I think, stitching your spinning hips together.
Sri Lanka will win the toss and hit first
Sri Lankan skipper Dhanajaya de Silva won't hesitate to lock up batting first at Galle after scoring 654/6 in the first innings in the first Test.
Steve Smith is sure Australia can still win in a different way, confirming Cooper Connolly's debut in place of Todd Murphy.
Cooper Connolly makes his test debut And he was handed his first buggy green cap By Simon Catic Australia chooses the fifth red ball debutant of the summer. Todd Murphy is a player who makes the way out of XI, who was very dominant in the opening test.
Connolly is an exciting intermediate batter and the third leading run scorer in the recent BBL season, but it's his left arm spin that's key to the gal's choice. The 21-year-old has yet to get wickets at four first-class matches and many Whiteball Internationals, but will change all of that in the second Test.
Geoff Lemon has prepared a scene setter for your announcement:
So the second test depends on Sri Lanka this time being displayed and also what the staff will offer. Given that the new track seemed ready to play in four days from the start, it's likely to be a pitch that will spin from day one. Although Sri Lanka has not shown fit for Australian spins, at least the badly spinning tracks will level out the benefits from tossing. Australia is also ready for these conditions, and with Runfest banking, it is much more interesting and informative to see how they fight the difficulties.
preamble
James Wallace
Hello, welcome to the first day of the second test Sri Lanka and Australia match from Gale*.
Australia slammed the home side in the first game, ramping up the winner with innings and 242 runs, giving them the biggest loss in Test history. What should you do according to such shellac? It appears the home side is spinning a spin to get something from these two match series. On all accounts, the surface of this game is dryer than the bottom of the parrot cage.
The condition can be seen 21-year-old left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly making his Test debut in Australia. Frank Dimus Madushanka Karnaratne.
Play starts from 10am to 3:30pm local time. I'll be back on team news and toss soon. As always, please contact us by email linked to the left side of this page. If you are tuning, always appreciate the company and comments.
* Via a sofa in south London. You can't get it all.
