GALLE: On day two of the second Test against Australia, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis each scored tenacious half-centuries to help Sri Lanka mount a formidable response.
After a new wave of political unrest broke out in the nation, few spectators could be found in the stands as the hosts reached 184 for two at stumps in Galle. Before Mitchell Swepson broke through with the captain’s wicket, Karunaratne scored 86 runs in a gruelling 152-run partnership with Kusal.
At the end of play, Kusal and Angelo Mathews were both still in the game, with Sri Lanka trailing Australia’s first innings 364 by 180 runs. With Steve Smith still standing at 145, debutant Sri Lankan spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya took six wickets to bowl out Australia in the first session.
When Mitchell Starc’s pace bowling caused PathumNissanka to edge the ball to gully, where Cameron Green took a good catch, the hosts were dealt a quick blow. Karunaratne and Kusal, a left-right batting pair, persevered through a brilliant burst of pace bowling from Starc and captain Pat Cummins to bat out the rest of the afternoon. Karunaratne increased his fifty with a boundary off Swepson, and Australia changed up their bowling lineup as a result of Kusal’s obstinate resistance.
With Smith continuing on his 109 after scoring his first Test hundred in 18 months on day one, the tourists started the day on 298-5. Alex Carey, the overnight batsman, fell victim to a trap set by Jayasuriya, who had three wickets on the first day, and was caught at backward point for 28. Immediately after getting Starc out for one, the left-arm spinner became the seventh Sri Lankan bowler to claim five wickets in an innings in a Test.
Three Sri Lankan players—Maheesh Theekshana, Kamindu Mendis, and Jayasuriya—were given their first Test caps after a Covid outbreak forced the suspension of several players from the team.
As a result of the host nation’s painful economic crisis, there were hardly any spectators at Galle for the second day of the play. The president of Sri Lanka, who fled his home on Saturday just before a sizable crowd of protesters stormed it, was being demanded to resign by hundreds of demonstrators during the morning session. Australia has a 1-0 series lead after winning the first Test last week in just three days, giving them a decisive early advantage.
Following a Covid outbreak that forced the suspension of several members of the squad, Maheesh Theekshana, Kamindu Mendis, and Jayasuriya were the three Sri Lankan players to receive their first Test cap. Since the host nation was experiencing widespread public unrest as a result of its excruciating economic crisis, there were hardly any spectators at Galle for the second day of the play.
During the morning session, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Galle fort to call for the resignation of Sri Lanka’s president, who left his house on Saturday just before a sizable crowd of demonstrators stormed it. After a decisive opening victory in the first Test last week that lasted just three days, Australia is ahead of the two-match series 1-0.
