Australia secure 125-run win in 1st Test
September 3, 2011 02:38 pm
Australia has wrapped up a 125-run victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka but not before a stubborn century by Mahela Jayawardene provided some anxious times for the tourists on the fourth day.
It was an ideal start to Michael Clarke’s full-time Test captaincy and to the three-match series. If Australia wins the series, it would jump above Sri Lanka to fourth in the Test nation world rankings.
Clarke’s side had hoped to complete a comfortable win with a minimum of fuss, arriving at the Galle International Stadium requiring only five wickets and with Sri Lanka needing a further 259 to reach the unlikely fourth-innings target of 379 on a deck that had terrorised batsmen for three days.
However, Jayawardene (105) and Angelo Mathews (95) were stoic in a stand of 142 that dragged the hosts back from 5-68 to briefly threaten the most stunning of fightbacks.
It was a partnership that proved difficult to break for Australia but when they finally did, thanks to Ryan Harris’s removal of Jayawardene’s stumps, they could breath a little easier. It was not long before Sri Lanka was knocked over for 253.
What seemed, at the start of the day, inevitable defeat for Sri Lanka was delayed by a brief downpour of morning rain that arrived quickly from the Indian Ocean and left just as promptly.
Australia then faced another obstacle in its attempts to remove Sri Lanka’s last two specialist batsmen and bring a sharp end to proceedings. Sri Lanka went to lunch at 5-187, somewhat closer to the monster total they were chasing.
Shifting the indefatigable Jayawardene proved Australia’s main headache. While Sri Lankan batsmen had been skittled hopelessly and with striking regularity on the previous two days they were finally able to turn the tables after play re-started.
Instead of another late-order collapse - Sri Lanka had lost its last seven wickets for 18 in their first-innings of 105 - it was the Australians who were being made to sweat it out in typically taxing conditions in the field.
By lunch, delayed by 30 minutes due to the earlier weather delay, Jayawardene had progressed to 90 not out, and, in doing so, brought up the highest individual score in a fourth innings at Galle, eclipsing the previous mark of 74 established by Graeme Smith during South Africa’s visit here in 2004.
The 34-year-old, who averages more than 52 in Test cricket, is no stranger to compiling long innings. He has a Test score of 374 to his name, accumulated as part of the staggering and record-breaking partnership of 624 he enjoyed with Kumar Sangakarra against South Africa in 2006.
He brought up his 29th Test hundred after the break, a innings of more than six hours that included 15 boundaries and a six, before finally being stopped by Harris soon after Australia had taken the new ball at the first opportunity.
Mathews, who was picked for the first Test despite being under an injury cloud due to knee problems, was also difficult to shift, prospering on a slowing pitch. He batted aggressively as he strove for a first Test ton - he had previously been run out on 99 - and ran out of partners but was denied five runs short when bowled by Shane Watson.
Harris (5-62) also finished off a feisty tailender’s innings of 12 by Sri Lankan off-spinner Rangana Herath - who had himself taken eight wickets for the match - before victory was completed when Nathan Lyon had Suranga Lakmal caught into the deep by Mitchell Johnson. - SMH
It was an ideal start to Michael Clarke’s full-time Test captaincy and to the three-match series. If Australia wins the series, it would jump above Sri Lanka to fourth in the Test nation world rankings.
Clarke’s side had hoped to complete a comfortable win with a minimum of fuss, arriving at the Galle International Stadium requiring only five wickets and with Sri Lanka needing a further 259 to reach the unlikely fourth-innings target of 379 on a deck that had terrorised batsmen for three days.
However, Jayawardene (105) and Angelo Mathews (95) were stoic in a stand of 142 that dragged the hosts back from 5-68 to briefly threaten the most stunning of fightbacks.
It was a partnership that proved difficult to break for Australia but when they finally did, thanks to Ryan Harris’s removal of Jayawardene’s stumps, they could breath a little easier. It was not long before Sri Lanka was knocked over for 253.
What seemed, at the start of the day, inevitable defeat for Sri Lanka was delayed by a brief downpour of morning rain that arrived quickly from the Indian Ocean and left just as promptly.
Australia then faced another obstacle in its attempts to remove Sri Lanka’s last two specialist batsmen and bring a sharp end to proceedings. Sri Lanka went to lunch at 5-187, somewhat closer to the monster total they were chasing.
Shifting the indefatigable Jayawardene proved Australia’s main headache. While Sri Lankan batsmen had been skittled hopelessly and with striking regularity on the previous two days they were finally able to turn the tables after play re-started.
Instead of another late-order collapse - Sri Lanka had lost its last seven wickets for 18 in their first-innings of 105 - it was the Australians who were being made to sweat it out in typically taxing conditions in the field.
By lunch, delayed by 30 minutes due to the earlier weather delay, Jayawardene had progressed to 90 not out, and, in doing so, brought up the highest individual score in a fourth innings at Galle, eclipsing the previous mark of 74 established by Graeme Smith during South Africa’s visit here in 2004.
The 34-year-old, who averages more than 52 in Test cricket, is no stranger to compiling long innings. He has a Test score of 374 to his name, accumulated as part of the staggering and record-breaking partnership of 624 he enjoyed with Kumar Sangakarra against South Africa in 2006.
He brought up his 29th Test hundred after the break, a innings of more than six hours that included 15 boundaries and a six, before finally being stopped by Harris soon after Australia had taken the new ball at the first opportunity.
Mathews, who was picked for the first Test despite being under an injury cloud due to knee problems, was also difficult to shift, prospering on a slowing pitch. He batted aggressively as he strove for a first Test ton - he had previously been run out on 99 - and ran out of partners but was denied five runs short when bowled by Shane Watson.
Harris (5-62) also finished off a feisty tailender’s innings of 12 by Sri Lankan off-spinner Rangana Herath - who had himself taken eight wickets for the match - before victory was completed when Nathan Lyon had Suranga Lakmal caught into the deep by Mitchell Johnson. - SMH
