Aussies grind Sri Lanka into Galle dust

• Smash their highest ever total in Asia 
• Khawaja first Australian to score double century in Sri Lanka
• Inglis 21st Australian to score century on Test debut
• SL's woes continue with 3 wickets lost for 44 runs

Usman Khawaja is jubilant after reaching his double century

Josh Inglis scored a century on Test debut for Australia

Jeffrey Vandersay makes a successful lbw appeal against Steve Smith

Sa’adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle

On another day dominated by Australia, Sri Lanka found themselves at the receiving end of the first Warne-Murali Trophy Test played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Having made the Sri Lankan bowlers toil in the field over the last two days, Australia declared with a massive total of 654-6 – their highest total achieved in Asia. By stumps on the second day Sri Lanka were struggling at 44-3 with a mountain to climb to save the Test. They trail Australia by 610 runs with three days of the Test remaining. Their first task is to avoid the follow-on by reaching a score of 455 which alone seems far-fetched at this point.

Starting the day at 330-2 Australia added more than 300 on the second day. Steve Smith who notched up his 35th Test century on day one went onto score 141 off 251 balls (12 fours, 2 sixes) and with Usman Khawaja shared a record third wicket stand of 266 off 419 balls.

Khawaja continued from where he left off on day one at 147 to notch up a fantastic double century, the first of his career – 232 off 352 balls (16 fours, 1 six) to become the first Australian to score a double hundred in Sri Lanka and put Australia in a commanding position.

Josh Inglis vindicated Australia’s decision to play him ahead of Sam Konstas by scoring a hundred on Test debut which was warmly appreciated by his parents who watched their son’s performance from the stands.

“Dads had a fair bit of air time in the last few days. He has been putting up his hand for interviews and things like that. It is special to have them here and share that moment with them,” said Inglis. “They have made so many sacrifices for me moving their whole life from England to Perth in 2010 and I can’t thank them enough. I wouldn’t be here without the things they have done for me. It’s nice to see dad enjoying it.”

The Yorkshire-born right-hander from Western Australia dominated the Lankan attack from ball one to score 102 off 94 balls (10 fours, 1 six) to become the 21st Australian to score a century on debut and the third in Asian conditions. The only other Australian to score a hundred on Test debut against Sri Lanka was Shaun Marsh – 141 at Pallekele in 2011.

All the spinners toiled in the field for almost two days with Prabath Jayasuriya bowling 60 overs – the most number of overs the left-arm spinner has bowled in an innings of a Test match. He did pick up three wickets, while Jeffrey Vandersay also claimed three as well in his long spell.

On a surface which didn’t offer much for the spinners on day one, Sri Lanka’s fielding wasn’t up to the mark as they dropped many catches and thereby allowed Australia to reach a daunting total.

After fielding for more than 150 overs the Lankan players were exhausted and it was the most difficult phase for the batters.

Mitchell Starc and Matthew Kuhnemann removed the openers early and Nathan Lyon took Angelo Mathews’ wicket courtesy a sensational catch by Travis Head at short leg. It’s going to be difficult for the Sri Lankan batters in the following days as the pitch will grip and turn a lot more. With three more days remaining Australia looks miles ahead in the game.

Vandersay gave credit to the Australian batsmen for the way they played spin.

“It’s not the usual Galle wicket where it spins and there’s good bounce. This track there’s not much bounce. But nothing should be taken away from the Australian batters. They didn’t allow us to settle in. They used their feet well and had good plans.”“We tried a few things but they tackled spin well. They were good on the back foot and came out of the crease and played some shots. We just tried to stick to our basics. Couldn’t try many things as the game was slipping away from us.”

However, when Sri Lanka batted, they found the Australian spinners tough to handle on the same pitch. 

“There’s not much difference in the surface. It didn’t change much. They were bowling better lines and were a bit quicker, that was the difference,” said Vandersay.

“Australia has a mammoth total on the board. We just need to bat long and keep focusing on building partnerships. The plan has to be to bat deep. I don’t think there’s too much on the wicket. The important thing is to get closer to their total.”