Sl Vs Aus Day1 Cricinfo

Inexperienced Sri Lankan bowlers call the shots

Sri Lanka's wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene celebrates the dismissal of Australia's Shane Watson during the first day of the first test cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Galle on Wednesday. Photo: AP

 

Call it first test blues or a case of plain nerves. Australian batsmen, barring Michael Hussey, were tentative, sometimes unusually cautious and at other times needlessly chancing their arm against a young Sri Lankan attack at Galle on the opening day of the first test. The Aussies folded for 273.

Sri Lanka had three overs to bat out, but just as the batsmen walked in, the umpires offered them the light.

Earlier, Hussey battled on, unmindful of the danger of running out of partners. Once the last man Lyon joined him, came the first sign of indiscretion in what was a chanceless innings. He jumped out to Randiv and tried to loft it over long off. Welegedara pulled off a catch right on the ropes and replays showed that his foot touched the ropes. Hussey got a bonus six runs. He again targeted Randiv one over later to get to 90. He was the last man out, leg before to Dilshan.

Michael Clarke called it right for the first time in Sri Lanka and elected to bat. The cream of batting was back in under 54 overs, with Shane Watson setting the tone of what was to come in the day. A few flourishing strokes, and then back into the air-conditioned comfort of the pavilion.

Watson, who seemed to have stepped right out of his century-making effort at Mohali last year straight into Galle, went for his strokes. It did work till such time the pacemen operated. But Herath’s first ball, tossed-up, a shade short of good-length and spun away after pitching on middle-and-off , drew him out. The ball found the edge and made its way to Prasanna Jayawardene’s gloves. Watson had squandered yet another promising start.

Two overs later, Hughes was surprised by a Lakmal delivery that kicked up from a good length spot, took the shoulder of the bat. The result was a regulation catch at second slip.

That brought captain Clarke and former captain Ponting together. Ponting, the only one from the 2004 tour of Sri Lanka, never seemed to be unduly troubled by the bowlers and by the more defensive fielding approach of Dilshan. At lunch, Australia had managed a decent 76 for 2 off 22 overs.

SL bowlers up to the challenge

At the end of the session, it seemed like Sri Lanka had erred in not taking a fifth bowler. The pitch had variable bounce and was taking spin, and with Mendis or Prasanna, Australia would have been in much deeper trouble.

But that move —not to pick an additional bowler – did not turn out to be a mistake. Clarke was caught in front by a Herath arm-ball, and the umpire did not think so. This time Sri Lanka opted for the review and was rewarded with Clarke’s wicket. Ponting was out to the most indiscreet shot of the day, an inside-out slog to a viciously spinning ball. He did not gauge it well enough and the resultant skier found deep mid-off.

Khawaja came in, and during his uncomfortable stay at the crease, did not quite look the guy who made a century at P.Sara at the warm-up game. Khawaja, more in the news in India for his visa issues than for his batting prowess, was unsure against the spinners. Finally a Welegedara special found the gap between bat and pad to end his miserable stay. In contrast, fast bowler Copeland looked much more comfortable during his short stay. He offered a straight bat to anything pitched up and went down on his knees for the popular slog-sweep against spinners. In fact, he loved his debut ball he faced, leg-glancing to the boundary a Lakmal full toss on his pads.

Earlier, when Haddin joined Hussey, he had raised hopes. The pair kept the bowlers at bay for a while with positive batting and rotating the strike. But in a pitch where stroke making had to be done exceedingly judiciously, it was only a matter of time before the flourish faded.

SL looks to first win minus Murali

Sri Lanka, still seeking its first test win since Muralidaran retired, continued its experiments with the final 11 as it left out both S.Prasanna and Ajantha Mendis. The reasoning was that Australians had begun to read Mendis better; hence Randiv would be better. Prasanna being kept out too was surprising, but Herath more than proved his worth when he was called upon to. On Day 1 at least, Sri Lanka’s selection will not come in for criticism.

Australia included left-arm batsman Khawaja, pacemen Trent Copeland and off-break bowler Nathan Lyon. Both Copeland and Lyon are making their debut and Australia places a disproportionately large work-load on their shoulders. In the absence of an experienced bowler, Johnson will have to shoulder a huge responsibility – he is the only bowler on either side with over 100 test wickets.

Scoreboard:

Australia Batting (1st innings): S.Watson c P.Jayawardene b Herath 22, P.Hughes c Paranavitana b Lakmal 12, R.Ponting c Mathews b Herath 44, M.Clarke lbw Herath 23, M.Hussey lbw Dilshan 95, U.Khawaja b Welegedara 21, B.Haddin c Paranavitana b Randiv 24, M.Johnson c P.Jayawardene b Lakmal 14, R.Harris lbw Lakmal 1, T.Copeland c Paranavitana b Randiv 12 and N.Lyon (not out) 0.

Extras (lb 3, b 2) 5. Total: 273 all out (86.4 overs)

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-36, 3-91, 4-112, 5-157, 6-205, 7-234, 8-236, 9-251

Sri Lanka Bowling (1st innings): C.Welegedara 15-5-61-1, S.Lakmal 17-2-55-3, Herath 24-3-54-3, T.M.Dilshan 9.4-1-22-1, S.Randiv 21-2-76-2