Left Arm Around

Steve Smith’s unbeaten century propelled him to the newest member of the elite 10,000 run club as Australia dominated the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

The 35 year-old nudged the one run he needed past mid-on to reach the milestone in 205 innings- the fifth fastest in the history of the game.

After narrowly avoiding dismissal on 2 when off-spinner Prabath Jayasuriya shelled a sharp return catch, Smith played a typical workmanlike knock to make his 35th Test ton.

He combined with Usman Khawaja, who returned to form with 147, in an unbroken stand of 195 to put the tourists firmly in the box seat at 330-2.

While much of the headlines with go to Khawaja and Smith, huge credit should be handed to Travis Head for his blistering fifty at the start of the day.

The left-hander crunched 57 from only 40 deliveries, including 11 boundaries, justifying his place as opener in favour of rising talent Sam Konstas.

Marnus Labuschagne (20) was the only other scalp to fall as Prabath Jayasuriya and Jeffrey Vandersay took a wicket apiece.

Bold selection pays dividends

Stand-in skipper Smith said they opted for Head given his brilliant Test record in the sub-continent thus far.

Legendary batter Ricky Ponting, however, suggested that the Aussies missed out on testing Konstas’ skills in alien conditions.

As for Khawaja, 38, this was his first century since his 141 at Edgbaston in the 2023 Ashes.

Australia will be delighted by Khawaja’s showing after a horrid campaign in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy- particularly with the World Test Championship final against South Africa approaching in June.

The Pakistan-born left-hander averaged just 20.44 across the whole summer as he struggled to counter the brilliance of India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.