Australia beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 242 runs in the opening of the two-match Test series. Nine-wicket and Seven-wicket hauls from Matt Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon respectively backed their batting dominance, highlighted by Usman Khawaja’s double ton to outsmart Lankan resilience.
Resuming the innings from 136/5, overnight batters Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis failed to turn up resilient as Matthew Kuhnemann wreaked havoc with the ball. With Nathan Lyon operating from the other end, the going got even tougher for the tail as the hosts could add just 29 runs on the day.
Australia enforced a follow-on after leading by 489 runs, taking advantage of their dominance and the conditions. The embarrassment deepened as Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy donned the new ball from either end to outsmart their openers by the fourth over of the innings. Feeling the pressure, the veterans stepped up at the time of need as Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal added 69 runs together before the latter departed at the cusp of Lunch with Sri Lanka 75/3 in 17.2 overs.
While Mathews followed back to the hut at the start of the second session, the middle-order showed some resilience. Despite wickets on regular intervals, thirties from Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kusal Mendis took them near the 200-run mark. Jeffrey Vandersay walked out to bat after Mendis’ wicket when Sri Lanka were 187/7 in 41 overs. Lyon and Kuhnemann bagged a wicket each before the last wicket irritated the visitors for a prolonged period. As Asitha Fernando tried to hold one end up, Vandersay grew confident, smashing the bowlers to propel Sri Lanka to 247 before the inevitable loss struck in the 55th over.
Brilliant
All out
FIVE for Matt Kuhnemann in Galle!
Sri Lanka all out for 165 in their first innings, a mere 489 runs behind Australia – who enforce the follow on #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/F1P43B40gC— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) February 1, 2025
England and Sri Lanka are both 9 down against Australia’s men’s and women’s. Let’s see which Australian team wins the test first.#AusvEng #AusvSl
— CricFollow (@CricFollow56) February 1, 2025
Shine
Dinesh Chandimal shines with valiant half-century in Galle Test, helping Sri Lanka resist Australia’s dominance despite rain interruptions and a substantial 414-run lead.
— Rajat (@Rajatvk18) February 1, 2025
Wow
Sri Lanka 214-9 (f/o) trail by 275 runs in 2nd innings.
Australia need 1 wicket to win.
#ChampionsTrophy #zelena #bplt20 #AUSvsSL #SA20— Abdul Haseeb (@Haseeb527) February 1, 2025
Congratulations @CricketAus! With this defeat, Sri Lanka is now mathematically out of the WTC Final contention race. Had they won 2-0 and Australia lost 8 points due to a slow over-rate, Sri Lanka would have qualified instead of Australia. https://t.co/swT41dcdwJ
— Kartik Sehgal (@kartik_vlsi) February 1, 2025
I love it
I love these fields. Only red ball cricket provides this drama. Sri Lanka on the brink of their first defeat to Australia on home soil since 2011. pic.twitter.com/1PSMKnDu8G
— Just a 52 year old from Nottinghamshire (@ENG2Stars1Day) February 1, 2025
The captain
How is dhananjaya de silva the captain of SriLanka? He’s so fkng selfish and irresponsible. Absolutely useless imbecile. How do Sri Lanka go from Sangakarra, Jayawardene etc this dumbass #australia #srilanka #test #cricket
— WadeParker47 (@spideypool7777) February 1, 2025
Sri Lanka 192-7 (f/o) trail by 297 runs in 2nd innings.
Australia needs 3 wickets to win.
#ChampionsTrophy #zelena #bplt20 #AUSvsSL #SA20— Abdul Haseeb (@Haseeb527) February 1, 2025
In lead
After the first innings, Australia had a lead of 489 runs, due to which they called Sri Lanka to bat again. By the end of the first session, Sri Lanka was down to 75 for 3. pic.twitter.com/7NNYDoVgTP
— 𝐂𝐂𝐑 (@CricComradeRaja) February 1, 2025
