Left Arm Around

An Usman Khawaja double century and Josh Inglis’ brutal debut ton continued Australia’s dominance against Sri Lanka on day two of the first Test in Galle.

Khawaja’s lengthy vigil of 232 was the highest score of his Test career so far, surpassing the unbeaten 195 he made against South Africa at the SCG in January 2023.

He also became the second-oldest Australian to make a Test double ton after the great Sir Donald Bradman.

Steve Smith was pinned LBW for 141, though Australia showed no signs of slowing down and allowing the hosts back into the contest.

As for Inglis, this was an announcement to the world on debut as he and Khawaja combined for another huge partnership to ram home the tourists’ advantage.

Mainly regarded as a white-ball star having played 26 ODI’s and 29 T20I’s to date, here Inglis illustrated his full array of stroke play in the longest format to reach his hundred in just 91 balls.

Only India’s Shikhar Dhawan in 2013 (85 balls) has scored a faster century on Test debut.

While he and Khawaja departed in quick succession following a rapid stand of 146, the lower order propelled the score beyond 600.

Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc were unbeaten on 46 and 19 respectively when skipper Steve Smith finally opted to declare on 654/6.

Jeffrey Vandersay and Prabath Jayasuriya finished with three wickets apiece, while Nishan Peiris and sole pacer Asitha Fernando were both expensive and wicketless.

After a 154 gruelling overs in the field, Sri Lanka were then unable to negotiate safely to the close without any further damage.

Dhananjaya De Silva’s side ended 44/3, still trailing by a mammoth 610 runs as Matt Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon snaffled a wicket each.

Two wickets were courtesy of outstanding catches as Nathan McSweeney plucked a sharp grab at the second attempt to remove Dimuth Karunaratne, before Travis Head took an acrobatic one-handed effort at short-leg to send the experienced Angelo Mathews packing.