Lyon, Starc turn tide for Australia after Sri Lanka start strong

The second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka remains in the balance after a back-and-forth opening day in Galle on Thursday.

Sri Lanka began well after winning the toss and opting to bat first, losing just Pathum Nissanka (11) in the opening session.

Resuming at 87/1 after lunch, the hosts were well positioned to comfortably pass 300 in their first innings.

Australia fought back through Nathan Lyon and then Mitchell Starc, however, claiming eight wickets over the next two sessions to have Sri Lanka at 9/229 by the end of the day’s play.

Lyon was the chief architect of Sri Lanka’s slide, claiming three of the hosts’ top four batsmen.

Wickets fell quickly as Sri Lanka found themselves going from 93/1 to 127/5.

Dinesh Chandimal (74) and Kusal Mendis (59*) dug in to get Sri Lanka back in the fight, with Ramesh Mendis (28) batting valiantly as well when Chandimal fell.

Three late wickets swung momentum in Australia’s favour, however, leaving betting odds close to what they were pre-match with leading cricket bookmakers.

After the day’s play, Australia’s assistant coach Daniel Vettori gave an insight into how he saw play on Thursday.

“First innings runs are going to play a huge role in whoever wins this game,” he said.

“I just think it’s going to be a tricky wicket the whole way along.”

Sri Lankan batting coach Thilina Kandamby conceded that his side will now have to settle for a lower total than they had been hoping for.

“Targeting a total above 350 would have been ideal, but we’re already nine down,” he said.

“But Kusal Mendis is there and he has all the shots.

“I hope he’ll score a few more runs and get us to 275 ideally.”

Heading into day two, Bovada puts the match odds at -151.52 to [r_geo_odds val=2.37] in Australia’s favour, with a draw returning +1800.

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