An unbeaten 195-run stand between Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith put Australia in a commanding position on the opening day (January 29) of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Earlier today, Australian skipper Steve Smith had no hesitation in opting to bat first after winning the toss, given the venue’s history. Australia fielded three spinners, leaving out Sam Kontas, while Travis Head was promoted to open. Josh Inglis, meanwhile, became the 470th player to represent Australia in Test cricket.
Sri Lanka also opted for a three-pronged spin attack, with Jeffrey Vandersay returning to the side for the first time since making his debut against the same opposition in July 2022. With Pathum Nissanka unavailable, Oshada Fernando slotted in at the top of the order, making his first Test appearance since March 2023.
Playing XI:
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
Usman Khawaja and Travis Head gave Australia a flying start after being asked to bat first. Head, in particular, was aggressive from the outset, dispatching three boundaries in the opening over off Asitha Fernando. The Sri Lankan pacer trapped him in front early, but with no review taken, ball-tracking later confirmed it would have hit the stumps.
Head raced to a 35-ball half-century before perishing for 57, holing out to long-on off Prabath Jayasuriya, ending a rapid 92-run opening stand in just 14.3 overs. Marnus Labuschagne struggled against the sharp turn of Jeffrey Vandersay, who eventually found the edge, sending him back to the pavilion.
Steve Smith got off the mark immediately and reached a significant milestone, becoming the fifth-fastest batter to 10,000 Test runs. The hosts had multiple chances to dismiss both Smith and Khawaja but were left to rue missed opportunities—dropped catches and failed reviews proved costly.
Dhananjaya de Silva put down Khawaja on 54 at slip, while Jayasuriya spilled a caught-and-bowled chance off Smith just three balls into his innings. Sri Lanka’s woes were compounded when they opted against reviewing an appeal for a caught-behind off Jayasuriya when Khawaja was on 74—replays later confirmed a faint edge. Soon after, a chance off Khawaja’s inside edge ballooned off the pad, but Kusal Mendis lost sight of it, letting a simple catch slip away.
Those missed chances proved costly, as Khawaja registered his 16th Test century while Smith notched up his 35th hundred. The duo continued piling on the runs, putting Australia in a dominant position before early stumps due to rain later in the day.
Brief Scores:
Australia 330/2 (81.1) Usman Khawaja 147*, Steve Smith 104*, Travis Head 57, Marnus Labuschagne 20, Jeffrey Vandersay 1/93, Prabath Jayasuriya 1/102
Stumps – Day 1
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usman Khawaja | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 232 | 352 | 16 | 1 | 65.91 |
| Travis Head | c Dinesh Chandimal b Prabath Jayasuriya | 57 | 40 | 10 | 1 | 142.50 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Jeffery Vandersay | 20 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 40.00 |
| Steve Smith | lbw b Jeffery Vandersay | 141 | 251 | 12 | 2 | 56.18 |
| Josh Inglis | c Kamindu Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 102 | 94 | 10 | 1 | 108.51 |
| Alex Carey | not out | 46 | 69 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Beau Webster | c Kamindu Mendis b Jeffery Vandersay | 23 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 46.00 |
| Mitchell Starc | not out | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 14 (b 2 , lb 11 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 654/6 (154 Overs, RR: 4.25) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 15 | 1 | 77 | 0 | 5.13 | |
| Nishan Peiris | 41 | 1 | 189 | 0 | 4.61 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 60 | 8 | 193 | 3 | 3.22 | |
| Jeffery Vandersay | 38 | 0 | 182 | 3 | 4.79 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Croospulle | lbw b Matthew Kuhemann | 7 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c McSweeney b Mitchell Starc | 7 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 53.85 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | lbw b Nathan Lyon | 72 | 139 | 9 | 0 | 51.80 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Travis Head b Nathan Lyon | 7 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 38.89 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Alex Carey b Mitchell Starc | 15 | 38 | 1 | 1 | 39.47 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | st Matthew Kuhemann b Alex Carey | 22 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 64.71 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Todd Murphy b Matthew Kuhemann | 21 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 52.50 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | st Alex Carey b Matthew Kuhemann | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Jeffery Vandersay | c Mitchell Starc b Matthew Kuhemann | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Nishan Peiris | c Josh Inglis b Nathan Lyon | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 165/10 (52.2 Overs, RR: 3.15) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | 8 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 1.62 | |
| Matthew Kuhemann | 18.2 | 3 | 63 | 5 | 3.46 | |
| Nathan Lyon | 20 | 3 | 57 | 3 | 2.85 | |
| Todd Murphy | 6 | 1 | 28 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lasith Croospulle | lbw b Mitchell Starc | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | b Todd Murphy | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | c Travis Head b Nathan Lyon | 31 | 49 | 3 | 0 | 63.27 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Travis Head b Nathan Lyon | 41 | 59 | 6 | 0 | 69.49 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Mitchell Starc b Matthew Kuhemann | 32 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 123.08 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Beau Webster b Matthew Kuhemann | 39 | 50 | 8 | 0 | 78.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | st Alex Carey b Nathan Lyon | 34 | 47 | 4 | 0 | 72.34 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | b Nathan Lyon | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Jeffery Vandersay | c Mitchell Starc b Matthew Kuhemann | 53 | 47 | 7 | 2 | 112.77 |
| Nishan Peiris | b Matthew Kuhemann | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 6 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 33.33 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 247/10 (54.3 Overs, RR: 4.53) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | 5 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 2.20 | |
| Todd Murphy | 11 | 0 | 57 | 1 | 5.18 | |
| Matthew Kuhemann | 17.3 | 2 | 86 | 4 | 4.97 | |
| Nathan Lyon | 19 | 4 | 78 | 4 | 4.11 | |
| Travis Head | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4.00 | |
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