Sri Lanka scripted a formidable comeback on Day 3 to tumble out Australia for 414 from 330/3 overnight, thus restricting the visitors’ first innings lead to 157 runs in the second Warne-Muralitharan Test at Galle. However, things ddidn’t go as smoothly with the bat and the score within an hour after Lunch read 39/3, the entirety of the top three dismissed including a subpar farewell knock from Dimuth Karunaratne. Nevertheless, hope remained alive for the islanders with the highly experienced Angelo Mathews and prodigous Kamindu Mendis at the crease, both batters having shown the capability of playing match-winning innings when the team is unde pressure in the past. While it sounds good on paper, the going was for from easy in the middle given the dusty nature of the track, threee days of wear, and Mitchell Starc’ bludgeoning footprints taking a toll on the surface around the crease — so much so that Travis Head looked as threatening as the frontline spinners, and his golden arm nearly reaped the dividends as well only to be denied by the barest of margins.
Mathews was having a hard time dealing with the degree of turn on the surface, his struggles exacerbated by the Aussie use of the straighter one to further the doubt in the batter’s mind. In the 19th over of the innings, Head used this inner conflict to first extract a couple of defences on the front foot, and then with his next delivery went back of length well outside off with serious amounts of sidespin. Mathews tried to rock back into the crease but the turn once again took him by surprise and by the time the bat came down, the red cherry had managed to go through his legs, miss the off-stump by a hair’s width, and fly past glovesman Alex Carey on the way to the boundary for four byes.
Head could not believe how the absolute jaffa did not earn him a 16th Test scalp but at the very least it provided him with a moment that could be played on loop for ages as the perfect nutmeg — or at least that is what Twitterati seems to think.
perfect delivery
Farewell
🚨Fairwell to most successful opener for Sri Lanka🚨#ausvsl #ChampionsTrophy2025 pic.twitter.com/WmxBAnlaiE
— FA (@FaheemaLi_66) February 8, 2025
Can Australia bowl Sri Lanka out tonight? #SLvAUS #AUSvSL
— ROC Photography 📷 (@ROCPhotography) February 8, 2025
making history!
Goat keep spinning!
Nathan Lyon has now bowled 34000 deliveries in Test Cricket #AUSvsSL #SLvAUS #Babar #PAKvNZ #INDvsENG #carey #BCCI #lyon #galle #srilanka #Australia #PakistanCricket #PAKvsNZ #ChampionsTrophy2025
— Eye of Sauron (@cricketsauron) February 8, 2025
Day 3
2nd Test Match
Sri Lanka 81-4 trail by 76 runs.#AUSvsSL #zelena #ChampionsTrophy2025— Abdul Haseeb (@Haseeb527) February 8, 2025
dumith Karunarate!
One of the Icons of Sri Lankan Test Cricketer
THANK YOU, DIMUTH KARUNARATNE- One of the Icons of Sri Lankan Test Cricket.#AUSvsSL #SriLankan #TestCricket pic.twitter.com/pjSgZqk0Aw
— JustTweets (@infra_work) February 8, 2025
Is Australia winning the series today again?#AUSvsSL #WTC25
— NYxTime_square (@Bibashlam984) February 8, 2025
Nathan Lyon🔥
