Australia win series in Sri Lanka after 14 years

Australia, winners of the two-Test series 2-0, retain the Warne-Murali Trophy 

• Retain Warne-Murali Trophy
• Outplay Sri Lanka in every department, from first ball to last

Sa’adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle

Player of the Match Alex Carey

Player of the Series Steve Smith

Kusal Mendis’ second fifty of the match was not enough to stop Australia winning

In another comprehensive performance, Australia beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets to win the second Test played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on the fourth day before lunch, to clinch the two-match series 2-0 and retain the Warne-Murali Trophy.

It was an outstanding performance from Australia, who outplayed Sri Lanka in every department, from first ball to last. It was their first series win in Sri Lanka since 2011.

Having bowled out Sri Lanka for 257 after losing the toss, Australia posted 414 thanks to a sensational 259-run stand between Player of the Series Steve Smith and Player of the Match Alex Carey which set up the match for them beautifully. Both of them struck superb hundreds on a dry and turning pitch, and dominated the spin trio of Sri Lanka who were left without answers. They guided Australia to a first-innings lead of 157 which was always going to be very difficult to overcome.

Sri Lanka fought hard with the bat in the second innings, with Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis scoring fifties, but Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann were persistent and got the job done eventually, both taking four-fers.

Australia required just 26 minutes of the fourth morning to bowl out Sri Lanka in their second innings for 231, leaving themselves a small target of 75 to chase which they did in 18 overs losing the wicket of Travis Head. Kusal Mendis went on to complete his second half-century of the match off 52 balls (5 fours, 1 six) but was out a ball later, popping up a catch to short fine leg when the ball bounced more than expected. 

Dimuth Karunaratne took a stump as a souvenir as his Test career came to a close. He finished as only the seventh player to play 100 Tests for Sri Lanka, and easily has the most runs as an opening batter for them. Smith collected the Warne-Murali Trophy and shook hands with Karunaratne for the last time.

With this match, the current World Test Championship (WTC) cycle of matches (2023-2025) comes to a close. Australia will now meet South Africa in June for the final at Lord’s.

Giving reasons for his team’s defeat, Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva said: “The actual reason is that we did not perform up to the level we should have; I mean with the bat and ball. These conditions suit our game but I have my doubts whether we have played well against spin. We have to think about it again. When we look at the wagon wheels, they have scored more on both sides of the wicket. It is a question whether we have done the same.”

“It is really difficult to survive by playing straight and defensive. Australia’s strategy was to score on both sides of the wicket and it worked for them. With the amount of pressure they put us under, we could not apply the same methods. We will have to think again whether we are going to play on these types of wickets all the time or play on good surfaces.”

“It is difficult to score on these kinds of wickets. If we are to put a big total on the board, the set batsman has to come up with a big score. All six or seven batsmen are not going to get runs on the same day. Because of that, the set batsman has to turn his score into a big hundred. That was the major drawback for us in this series. Even for Australia, only two batsmen scored runs. We could not do that.”

Smith said that he did not expect Australia to win the way they did.

“The guys did an exceptional job. Right from our camp in Dubai, they turned up and wanted to find ways to be successful here. Every individual contributed – they stood up at different times throughout the series and the batters found methods they were able to survive and put pressure on the bowlers. Everyone was different, that was the beauty of it. Then, the spinners and Mitchell Starc did a tremendous job. It was a great series to be a part of. We learnt so much about playing in the subcontinent; we put that into play out here in the last two games.” “We really enjoyed our time here. It is a beautiful place to come and play cricket, the hospitality has been wonderful, the wickets have been really good, and the cricket exciting to play on.”