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After being dismantled in the first Test the hosts put up more of a fight yesterday as they reached 93 for one before Australia struck back with Nathan Lyon (3 for 78) and Mitchell Starc (3 for 37) leading the way. Sri Lanka were able to recover from a couple of mini-collapses off the back of half-centuries to Dinesh Chandimal (74) and Kusal Mendis (59 not out) to finish the day on 229 for 9, but will be hoping their keeper can eke out several more runs to lift them to a more competitive first innings total.
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Australia’s quartet of spinners found more in the pitch as day one progressed and the batters will be conscious of the need to amass a strong total before conditions deteriorate further. Debutant Cooper Connolly has so far bowled only three overs in the match but could get his chance to impress with the bat at some stage today.
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The conditions in Galle are hot but not too humid, with a predicted high of 31C and no signs that rain will interrupt play today or over the next few days.
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First ball will be at 10am local time or 3.30pm AEDT. Meanwhile, please keep me company with your thoughts and predictions on email or @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
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Important Events
94th: Sri Lanka 245-9 (Kusal 73, Kumara 2) Kusal Slog sweeps Kuhnemann for a couple in Deep Midwicket and adds a single on a square drive. Australia will crowd the bat to Kumara with a spinner bowling on the left arm, but Sri Lanka number will protect it comfortably twice with its front paw.
93rd time: Sri Lanka 242-9 (Kusal 70, Kumara 2) Kusal Mendis showed his intention to trust his batting partner yesterday when he made the penultimate delivery of the day, and did the same here while running midwicket. As Lyon floats wide, Rahir Kumara subtly puts the fine legs in a couple.
92nd: Sri Lanka 239-9 (Kusal 69, Kumara 0) Steve Smith gets a double spin as Matthew Koeneman starts at the other end. The left arm flies the first delivery, and Kusar opens with a cover drive to the rope with a classy cover drive, as Mitchell Stark cannot cut it off. In single-to-point, Kneman gives Rahirukumara three balls, but the No. 11 defense is solid enough.
91 Overs: Sri Lanka 234-9 (Kusal 64, Kumara 0) Nathan Lyon started with a strike from Kusar Mendis and not at 59. The Australian offspinner targets the footmarks outside of the offstomp until the kusar floats down the legside to sweep the four. The Keeper batter fine-tunes the feet of short hoons from singles to maintain the strike.
Back at goal, Australian and Sri Lankan players head to the field with tourists, away from one wicket to close the innings.
Nathan Lyon holds the ball in his hand and throws the bowl to Sri Lankan Keeper Kusar Mendis.
Australia is under pressure to boycott the Champions Trophy match with Afghanistan in response to a violation of the country's women's rights under the Taliban regime. Cricket Australia has resisted these calls so far, and England also takes a “one-sided” action to boycott the Champions Trophy game against the same opponent, creating a unified stand by the ICC I'm calling for you to do so.
We believe that coordinated international response by the cricket community is the right way to achieve more than one-sided actions by the ECB in boycotting this match.
Australia and Sri Lanka will meet in ODI pairs next week in preparation for the ICC Champions Trophy, which will play in Pakistan and Dubai later next week. Australia looks to bring new look teams to the tournament, making sure Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stonis are not on the road.
Cooper Connolly is a player who can force his way into the team, especially with a strong show in Girl's subcontinental conditions.
Australia always looks to the effective part-time spinner Travis Head (31-3) for 8 overs on the first day, with left-arm tweakers Cooper Connolly (0 at 12) and Seamer Bowester (13 vs. 13) bowled three. But much of the heavy lifting was done by Nathan Lyon (3 at 78) and Matthew Koeneman (2 for 53) each, sending 30 overs and Mitchell Stark (3 at 37). I sent it.
Captain Steve Smith seemed to be lacking a fourth-frontline bowler suitable for day one conditions, especially as Todd Murphy dropped in his second Test, where he preferred an all-around Connolly. Australian bowling coach Dan Bettori described the XI changes after playing yesterday.
The first inning run will play a major role in whoever won this game. The expectation that the wicket would probably be slightly more extreme than the first Test match was that it would have seen the number of overs dropping and the batting would probably be on the forefront.
Whenever he joined the team, I think he did a great job, so it's an incredibly harsh call to “Murfs.” The interpretation of the ticket gates only led me to believe that the run would be a premium.
Australia may fight in their hands to seal off the unusual subcontinent victory against Sri Lanka after the first day of their second Test with Gal.
Keep up with the first day report:
preamble
Martin Peagan
Hello, welcome to live coverage on the second day of Sri Lanka and Australia's second test.
After being demolished in the first test, the hosts fought more than yesterday as Australia reached 93 before returning to Nathan Lyon (3 at 78) and Mitchell Stark (37-3). Sri Lanka managed to finish the day with 229 from Dineshchandimal (74) and Kusarmendis (not 59) from some minicarups behind half a century, but hopes the keeper can I am. They put out a few more runs and lift them up into a more competitive first inning total.
The Australian spinner quartet will discover more on the pitch as the first day progresses, and batters will be aware of the need to accumulate strong sums before conditions worsen. Debuting Cooper Connolly has only bowled three overs in the match so far, but has managed to get a chance to impress the bat at some stage today.
The girl's condition is hot, but not too humid, with a predicted highest 31c, with no signs of rain breaking play today or over a few days.
The first ball will be at 10am or 3:30pm local time. In the meantime, please contact me via email or @martinpegan with your thoughts and predictions Blue skiing or x. Let's get into it!
