Twitter Reactions: Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann spin Australia to massive innings victory in first Test

The visitors piled up a mammoth 654 in their first innings, a score which the Lankans could not overhaul despite batting twice.

By Rathnam Nayak

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Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann spin Australia to massive innings victory
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Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann spin Australia to massive innings victory (Source: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

The first of the two Tests being played between Sri Lanka and Australia went to the latter by a commanding margin of an innings and 242 runs. The game concluded with an entire day and a session to spare, with the visitors thoroughly dominating proceedings at the Galle International Stadium. 

The forecast for the fourth day of the game was unlike that for the previous one, where only 27 overs were bowled. Resuming the day trailing Australia by 518 runs, Matthew Kuhnemann provided the first breakthrough of the day with Kusal Mendis' wicket. What followed was a dramatic implosion as one wicket led to the fall of another as Sri Lanka were shot out for 165.

Needless to say, Australia enforced the follow-on. It was the second time within a little over 24 hours that the Lankan openers fell for single-digit scores. Top-scorer of the first innings, Dinesh Chandimal, along with Angelo Mathews added 69 runs for the third wicket before the former gloved one to the close-in fielder, Travis Head, under the lid on the on-side in what was supposed to be the last over before Lunch.

Although Nathan Lyon was not at his usual best in terms of bowling tight lines, the dismissal of Mathews on the first delivery of the 25th over of Sri Lanka was pretty much the writing on the wall for the hosts. Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis looked pretty solid in the middle. However, both of them threw their wickets away in successive overs to leave their side seven-down.

Playing in just his second Test, legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay played an enterprising knock and farmed the strike from the rest of the tail to provide some entertainment at the end. The 55th over of the innings was when he brought up his maiden half-century, with him perishing just a delivery later to have the game wrapped up. The resistance on display was never going to be enough for obvious reasons. 

The second Test of the series will be played at the same venue, scheduled to commence on Thursday, February 6. Sri Lanka would hope for a better showing during that game, and would be keen on bouncing back to draw parity. Notably, this was the island nation's biggest Test defeat up until now.

Check out how X reacted to Day 4 of the first Test between SL and AUS -

 

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Sri Lanka vs Australia 2025AustraliaSri LankaNathan LyonMatthew Kuhnemann