Australia take control of practice match

Captain Milinda and Asela score half-centuries in Sri Lanka’s 229; Aussies reply with 127 for one

By Madushka Balasuriya

Steve O’Keefe was the standout performer as Australia officially began their tour of Sri Lanka yesterday with a three-day warm-up match - their only one ahead of next week’s first Test - against a Sri Lankan XI at the P. Sara Oval. 

The visitors put on a dominant display on the opening day, with both bat and ball, as 31-year-old left-arm spinner O’Keefe impressed with figures of 5 for 43 in 12.2 overs. O’Keefe was ably assisted by the pace triumvirate of Mitchell Starc (12-4-39-2), Jackson Bird (11-3-26-2) and Mitchell Marsh (9-0-47-1), as the Sri Lankan XI were skittled out for 229. Fellow spinner Nathan Lyon had a less than stellar outing though, going wicketless at an economy rate of 5.53.

Not to be outdone, the Australian batsmen asserted their dominance just as quickly as the bowlers had with the openers Joe Burns and Shaun Marsh putting on 97 for the first wicket. Marsh was eventually dismissed for 47 by the part-time spin of Shehan Jayasuriya, but not before he had dispatched the Sri Lankan bowlers for nine boundaries. At stumps, Australia were on 127/1 with Burns not out on 64 joined at the crease by Usman Khawaja, who was not out on 11.

Earlier in the day, having won the toss and chosen to bat first, the Sri Lankan XI top order did not last long against the extreme pace of the Aussie quicks, with only the resilient pair of Asela Gunaratne (58) and Captain Milinda Siriwardana (53) staving off complete embarrassment. The duo put on 101 for the fourth wicket after coming together at 32/3, and looked to have stabilised the innings. That stability proved to be short-lived however, as O’Keefe’s dismissal of Gunaratne led to a mini-collapse and the home side stumbled from 133/3 to 135/6 with both Gunaratne and Siriwardana back in the pavilion.

Dasun Shanaka (39) and Chaturanga de Silva (49) put on 85 for the seventh wicket to bring some respectability to the score. However, O’Keefe dismissed them both in successive overs as the Australians wrapped up the innings in a little less than two sessions.

Sri Lankan XI cricketer Asela Gunaratne (R) plays a shot as Australian cricketer Nathan Coulter-Nile looks - AFP

Australian cricketer Shaun Marsh (R) and Joe Burns (L) run between the wickets during the first day of a three day practice match between Australia and a Sri Lankan XI team at the P. Sara Oval Cricket Stadium in Colombo on July 18, 2016 - AFP