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Sri Lanka bowled out at 257 on Day 2 in second Test match against Australia.
Starc, Lyon and Kuhnemann kept Sri Lanka under control
Kusal Mendis slams his fourth 50-plus score vs Australia in Test Match.
Sri Lanka struggled with their batting again in the second Test in Galle, ending the first day at 229/9. Despite half-centuries from Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis, Australia maintained control of the game early on.
After winning the toss, Dhananjaya de Silva chose to bat on a dry pitch. A week after Australia scored 654/6 in their first innings at the same venue, Sri Lanka had a decent start with Dimuth Karunaratne, playing his 100th and final Test for Sri Lanka, and Chandimal. Nathan Lyon was brought in early on a pitch that turned sharply from the first hour and dismissed opener Pathum Nissanka. However, Karunaratne and Chandimal managed to bat through the rest of the morning session with some solidity and intent to advance the team's score.
After the break, things got worse for Sri Lanka, further frustrating head coach Sanath Jayasuriya, who had criticized the batters for their poor shot selection after the first Test defeat. Karunaratne, who had reached the 30s, was bowled by Lyon in the third over after the break. Angelo Mathews struggled for 25 deliveries before he edged a Lyon delivery to Alex Carey on the 26th.
Right after the drinks break, Travis Head struck, getting Kamindu Mendis to edge a cut shot to Steve Smith at first slip. Dhananjaya de Silva arrived just as Mitchell Starc returned to the attack, and Starc dismissed the Sri Lankan captain with a full, wide delivery that Dhananjaya edged to Beau Webster at gully.
Chandimal, who scored his 32nd Test fifty in this session, batted with Kusal Mendis for the rest of the session. However, this partnership also didn't last long as Sri Lanka lost a wicket early into the next session. Chandimal was out for 74 due to a brilliant piece of wicket-keeping by Carey. Matthew Kuhnemann got Chandimal to miss a delivery, and Carey quickly removed the bails with no part of Chandimal's foot behind the line.
Kusal Mendis kept trying to disrupt Lyon's bowling by repeatedly slog sweeping him. He and Ramesh Mendis fought back for most of the final session, forming a strong partnership. They added 65 runs for the seventh wicket, taking Sri Lanka past 200 runs, but Starc returned with the new ball to put Australia back in control.
Starc bowled a fast delivery at 144 km/h across the right-hander, who hesitated and ended up edging it to Carey. Prabath Jayasuriya then edged a ball to Smith at second slip for a first-ball duck. Kuhnemann reduced Sri Lanka to 224/9 by dismissing Nishan Peiris. Steve Smith placed several fielders close to the bat for the last pair, who had to play 3.5 overs to reach the end of the day. Lahiru Kumara faced 11 balls, defending most of them, to survive the day with Mendis, who was unbeaten on 59 runs at stumps.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 257/10 (Dinesh Chandimal 74, Kusal Mendis 85*; Mitchell Starc 3-37, Nathan Lyon 3-96, Matthew Kuhnemann 3-63) vs Australia 197/3 at Tea.
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