SL v AUS, 2nd Test Day 2 Review: Defeat staring in the face of Australia

Published - 05 Aug 2016, 18:33 IST | Updated - 05 Aug 2016, 18:33 IST

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If one was to pick the most eventful and somewhat record-breaking day in terms of the fall of wickets in the second Sri Lanka v Australia Test, it certainly would be Day 2 of the second Test at Galle. With the match evenly poised at the end of Day One, Day two saw the most number of wickets fall in the first two days of a Test match, something that saw 33 wickets fall for just 650 odd runs scored as well. While Mitchell Starc played the role of a workhorse, Rangana Herath stole headlines with his first ever hat-trick in Test cricket and only the second Sri Lankan to do so.

Day two saw Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith come out to continue their effort to reach the Sri Lankan effort early on Day 3. Khawaja was the first to go in just the second over of the day when he was cleaned up by Lankan veteran Dilruwan Perera. Things got from bad to worse when skipper Steve Smith has removed the very next delivery after Rangana Herath breached the skipper’s defenses. This wicket was quite effectively the trigger that set in motion the collapse that was to come.

In what was a preview to the astounding hat-trick by Rangana Herath was the simple fact that Adam Voges, perhaps Australia’s best batsman simply had no answer to the 38-year old evergreen left-arm spinner. Herath completed his hat-trick when Peter Nevill and Mitchell Starc were dismissed in consecutive deliveries, thus ensuring that the landmark was eventually reached, with the wicket of Starc being confirmed by the DRS system.

The wickets continued to tumble as Dilruwan Perera also got into the act. Mitchell Marsh sent a few shivers down the spines of some nervous spectators when he smashed a few balls into the stand. However, it was the grit of Lakshan Sandakan who came up trumps as he removed Marsh for 27, thereby restricting the Aussies for a paltry 106.

Also read – Rangana Herath: The Old Dog and his new tricks

Mitchell Starc, eager to repeat his previous day’s performance began bowling with vigor in a bid to restrict the Lankans and give the Aussies the best possible chance of victory. Things got off to a great start for the Aussies when Steve Smith latched on to a difficult catch off the bowling of Josh Hazelwood as Kaushal Silva was dismissed. Dimuth Karunaratne was the next to depart when the irresistible Starc captured his well-deserved first wicket of the innings.

The Lankans however, were thrown into a crisis situation when their premier batsman of the moment Kusal Mendis was dismissed for 7 after an outside-edge found its way to the safe grasp of Peter Nevill. Angelo Mathews continued where he left off in the previous innings by taking the areal route against the sub-standard spinners of the Aussies. He was joined in his difficult expedition by Dilruwan Perera and Rangana Herath as the trio added some valuable runs to the Sri Lankan total. Perera smashed a valiant and a quick fire 64 before Mitchell Starc eventually completed 11 wickets in the match.

Not expected to bat for the second time in the day, the Aussies came out with a clear plan of not losing a wicket before the end of the day’s play. The opening pair of David Warner and Joe Burns had to just bat out six overs before taking the field the following day. However, disaster struck when Joe Burns was dismissed attempting to play a cover drive.

Things went from bad to worse when Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja fell in quick succession soon after, leaving the Aussies on 25/3 at the end of the day’s play with David Warner having scored 22 of those runs.