Aussies spun around by unheralded Lankans
September 11, 1999 re-enacted
NDTV
- Number of years for Sri Lanka to win their second Test against Australia. They had secured their first win on September 11, 1999 in Kandy - Number of Tests won by Sri Lanka against Australia. Their first win was also in Kandy but it was at the Asgiriya stadium. Since then, Sri Lanka have lost 10 and drawn three Tests against Australia - Number of consecutive losses for Australia in Asia. They lost four against India in 2013 and two against Pakistan in the UAE in 2014/15. Their last win in the sub-continent came against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2011. - Number of LBWs in the Test at Pallekele. This is the most number of LBW dismissals in a Test match in Sri Lanka. - Kusal Mendis' score in the Test at Pallekele, which is highest individual score. This is the second-highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batsman in a Test against Australia, behind Kumar Sangakkara's 192 at Hobart in 2008. However, it is the highest individual score by a Sri Lankan batsman in Pallekele, going past Younis Khan's 171* in 2015. - The run-rate during the fourrun stand between Steven O'Keefe and Peter Nevill, the lowest in the history of Test cricket. The partnership consumed a total of 178 balls but it was worth only four runs. - Consecutive number of maidens bowled by the Sri Lankan bowlers in the Australian innings. This is the first time that such a feat has been achieved. - Number of five-wicket hauls by Rangana Herath after taking 5/54 in the second innings. This is the second-most number of hauls by a Sri Lankan bowler, behind Muttiah Muralitharan's 67. - First loss for Steven Smith as skipper. He had captained three Tests against India and won one while drawing two. He led Australia to four wins in six Tests against New Zealand while also winning two Tests against the West Indies.
Angelo Matthews' much-maligned men performed the incredible when they swept to a 106-run win over Australia slightly before tea on day five of the opening Test in the series at the Pallekele Stadium yes- terday. Under the cash for their performances from the World Cup, the Sri Lankans, unheralded and unsung, came back in a big way to net the biggest fish of them all -- the number one ranked team in the world. Tutored and advised no end in the art of playing spin on turning wickets, when it came to the crunch, the Aussies (save for one or two), found the Sri Lankan spinners a difficult proposition. The reliable left-armer Rangana Herath had a matchbag of 9 for 103, while debutant Lakshan Sandakan finished with seven for 102. More importantly, he sowed the seeds of doubt in Aussies minds by his sharp and unreadable spin. The man who set up this win, and rightly earned the man-of-the-match award, was the prodigiously talented 21-year-old, Kusal Mendis. His splendid innings of 176 was just about half the Sri Lankan second innings' total. He seemed free of nerves, put the bad balls away and stepped the good. His innings should imbue some of his top order players with confidence in the Tests to come. This is Australia's second loss to Sri Lanka in 27 Tests. The first was in that Test at Asgiriya in September 1999. Steve Smith has lost his first Test as skipper in his 12th attempt. A slightly delayed start on day five may have perturbed the team and the supporters. But they made up for lost time by disposing of Adam Voges shortly after the start. The Aussie goose seemed to have been cooked because he was the player who could have dug in for the long haul and bailed them out. He is also the player who had a Bradman-esque average. Smith was devoid of his quirky mannerisms as he concentrated hard and endeavoured to shore up his team's innings. His only boundary was a back foot force through the untenanted covers off a short Sandakan delivery. For the most part, he was flicking through square leg and
Sri Lanka First Innings
(Dhananjaya de Silva 24, Kusal Perera 20, Nathan Lyon 3/12, Josh Hazlewood 3/21, Steeve O'Keefe 2/32, Mitchell Starc 2/51)
Australia First Innings
(Adam Voges 47, Mitchell Marsh 31, Steven Smith 30, Usman Khawaja 26, Steve O'Keefe 23, Rangana Herath 4/49, Lakshan Sandaken 4/58, Nuwan Pradeep 2/36)
Sri Lanka Second Innings
(Kusal Mendis 176, Dinesh Chandimal 42, Dhananjaya de Silva 36, Rangana Herath 35, Mitchell Starc 4/84, Josh Hazlewood 2/59)
Australia Second Innings (83 for 3 overnight)
Joe Burns b Sandaken 29 (Hard spin, slowed outside off stump, batsman fails to pick as he prepares to cut, but spins hard into the stumps) David Warner b Herath 1 (An illusion of a delivery, straight, pitches on leg, batsman assumes to be a turner and drives, but the ball creeps under the bat and land on the leg stump) Uwaman Khawaja lbw Perera 18 (Full delivery on the middle and off, sweeps positively, but the ball sneaks under the bat to strike plumb in front of middle and leg) mid-wicket. His 55 off 125 balls was important to his team. With him m out there, there was still some hope.
Mitchell Marshh was impressive once again, Striking the ball crisply. hisis reach permitted him to keep the spinner at bay. But ut the Aussies who lost Smith at 139, also lost March one ne run later. Mitchell Starc's was a very soft dismissal.al. The imperious drives for four through the coversrs in one Dilruwan Perera over proclaimed his pedigree.gree. On the backfoot to a Sandakan delivery, he served d up a dolly to the bowler.
Then came a staggeringaggering rear-guard action by the injured and almostost immobile Steve O'Keefe and the stumper Peter Nevill.evill. They kept the Sri Lankans at bay for more than n 25 overs while they added a mere four runs. Those came when O'Keefe bestirred himself to sweep a delivery for four. Plenty of singles were not taken as O'Keefe was almost immobile.
Another debutant, ant, Dhananjaya de Silva, made the long-awaited breakthrough when his back-ofthe-hand deliveryy was edged to Dinesh Chandimal by Nevill. The latterter read it late and tried a hurried cut. With the last man in, O'Keefe came down the track to a Herath delivery, missed and was castled. Steven Smith lbw Herath 55 (Flat delivery on the off and middle, plays forward but fails to touch the ball, reviews but fails again) Adam Voges c and b Herath 12 (Full delivery outside off, comes down the track but plays straight back to the bowler, doubt prevails if the catch was neatly taken, third umpire confirms the dismissal was clean) Mitchell Marsh lbw b Herath 25 (Flatter delivery on middle and leg, slides on with the strike andnd and strikes in front, umpire mpire t turnsrns do downn th thet the hheavy heavy appeal,l but the review showsws it was a perfect dismissal)
Peter Nevill c Chandimal andimal b de Silva 9 ( Short and wide outsideside off, cuts but gets a thin outside edge to the keeper)
Mitchell Starc c and b Sandaken 0 (Soft dismissal, pitchesches full from outside off, batsman tries too thump but returns the ball to the bowler'ser's hands)
Nathan Lyon lbw b Sandaken 8 (Flat delivery outsidede off, plays defensive on the backfoot,t, the ball turns sharp and strikes the pads,s, batsman reviews but the original decisionision stays)
Steve O'Keefe b Herath 4 (Pitches on the leg, beating the batsman's flick shot played across)
Josh Hazlewood not out 0
0 (all out; 88.3 overs) ers)
1-2 (Warner),Warner), 2-33 (Khawaja), 3-63 (Burns),rns), 4-96 (Voges), 5-139 (Marsh), 6-1400 (Smith), 7-141 (Starc), 8-157 (Lyon),), 9-161 (Nevill), 10-161 (O'Keefe)
Nuwan Pradeepeep 6-3-16-0, Rangana Herath 33.3-16-54-5,3-16-54-5, Dilruwan Perera 13-3-30-1, Lakshanakshan Sandaken 25-8-49-3, Dhananjayaaya de Silva 11-712-1 In was joy, pure and unconfined unconfined, for the Sri Lankans who had to put up with a quite a bit of c criticism. There were even some misguided calls for the captain's head. The series has only started.starte Even though this is not one of the great Australian sides, they will come back fighting.figh But Matthews has now got th the bit between his teeth and he is not likely to surrender the in initiative all that easily. The n next Test will be at the low and s slow Galle Stadium and the Au Aussies will be similarly tested. One final point: wh what happens to the twotier system when th the seventh ranked team topples the first?
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THE AGEAG – AUSTRALIA DAILY MAIL – LONDON