SL v AUS, 3rd Test Day 1 Review: De Silva rescues hosts

Day 1 of the third SL v AUS Test match saw the Sri Lankans take the field with the view of completing a historic whitewash against the top-ranked Test side in the world. While the mood in the Sri Lankan camp was that of going for the kill, the mood in the Australian camp was quite clearly that of redemption. A win would certainly go on to show the series loss as not as bad as it really is.

Angelo Mathews won the toss and made the decision to bat first. Was it the right decision on a track that assisted spinners and against an opposition that had Mitchell Starc on it? Of course, not. The morning session well and truly belonged to the Aussies.

With two runs on the board, it was the irresistible Mitchell Starc who made the breakthrough when he removed Dimuth Karunaratne. The Lankans looked at Kaushal Silva and Kusal Perera for some assistance with building a partnership. However, with Starc firing on all cylinders, it was clear that they did not have a chance. The southpaw was dismissed by an inswinger from Starc after he chopped on to his own stumps.

At 2-21, Steve Smith sniffed around his bowling pack. He was indeed going to go for the kill. The middle order of the Lankan batting was as feeble as they were despite the presence of Angelo Mathews. Steve Smith could not have introduced Nathan Lyon at a better time in the innings. The heads began to roll one by one as a pack of smiling Aussies watched each Sri Lankan scalp make their way back to the dressing room.

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Kusal Perera was the only one of the top order players to make it past 10 runs. However, he did not survive the onslaught as he became Lyon’s first wicket. However, the biggest scalp as far as the Lankans were concerned was was the fact that Starc once again provoked Kusal Mendis in fending for a cover drive. The Result: An absolute disaster for Mendis as a thick outside edge found its way to skipper Steve Smith at slip. The score was 26-5, a horror and a shock for the faithful who had turned up in their numbers at the SSC in Colombo.

Dinesh Chandimal and Dhanajaya de Silva spared the Lankans of their blushes, ensuring that they did not lose a wicket before the end of the session. Little did the Aussies know that the post lunch session would witness something extraordinary from the bats of Chandimal and de Silva.

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Sure enough, the duo began to go about stitching a partnership on what seemed to be somewhat of a diabolical wicket at Colombo. However, these two batsmen played the conditions with absolutely no worries in the world. De Silva in just his third Test.

Playing just his third Test match of his entire career, de Silva played with an air of confidence one had shown for the best part of their 10-year career. Assisting him was Dinesh Chandimal who eventually went on to smash a wonderful 64. Sure enough, Dhanajaya de Silva went on to smash a ton as he also remained unbeaten on 116 at the end of the day’s play. The partnership was eventually worth 188 runs.

Watch: Day-1 highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxUJv6Iz2yc

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka, 1st innings: 214/5 (de Silva 114*; M Starc 3/47)

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