Big picture: Australia look to build legacy, Sri Lanka hope to salvage series
Before the series opener, there were some Australians who hadn’t watched their national team play a Test match in South Asia. After watching Australia submit a near-perfect performance in Galle on free-to-air television, they might be wondering what all the fuss was about.
Australia inflicted Sri Lanka’s worst defeat in Test cricket in a beatdown that felt out of the golden era under Steve Waugh. But this team isn’t satisfied just yet despite having already retained the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy on the back of their momentous series victory against India, which put them in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
They want to achieve greatness and to do that they need to finish the job in the type of ruthless fashion they haven’t always exhibited. Australia were left frustrated after a big second Test defeat to Sri Lanka on the 2022 tour, while they let series leads slip on Ashes tours in 2019 and 2023. Australia also had to settle with a drawn home series against West Indies just over 12 months ago after the remarkable Gabba Test.
A victory in the second Test will add to their growing legacy and secure a rare series victory in South Asia, adding to their triumph in Pakistan in 2022 – their only series win in the subcontinent since winning in Sri Lanka in 2011.
It is unlikely to be as straightforward on a different Galle surface – it was extremely dry a day out from the game – expected to rag and against a Sri Lanka team having had to undergo some soul-searching.
Sri Lanka did lose a decisive toss but mustered very little fight in a humiliating defeat. But things can change quickly in Test cricket in Sri Lanka and the hosts will hope that a change of conditions combined with the farewell of retiring opener Dimuth Karunaratne might just spark a major turnaround.
Their bid to regain the Warne-Muralidaran Trophy are over, but Sri Lanka can still salvage a drawn series and arrest a recent slide in Test cricket after some strong performances last year had them close to qualifying for the WTC final.
Form guide
Sri Lanka LLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWDW
In the spotlight: Dimuth Karunaratne and Marnus Labuschagne
Dimuth Karunaratne will retire from Test cricket after playing his 100th game in this match. It will be a grand occasion for him, and he will be keen to end his career on a strong note. After such listless batting from Sri Lanka in the first Test, Karunaratne will be tasked with helping shore up the top order. He will also be keen to reverse his own poor form after only making 7 and 0 in the first Test. His struggles against left-arm quick Mitchell Starc continued with a first-innings dismissal before he was clean bowled by offspinner Todd Murphy after a horrible misjudgment. There will be a lot of pressure on Sri Lanka’s batting order when they front up and Karunaratne will need to use his wealth of experience to help them build a platform.
After encountering tough seam-bowling conditions against India, Australia’s batting order relished a benign surface in the first Test and posted their highest-ever total in Asia. Usman Khawaja made a double-century, Steven Smith and Josh Inglis scored centuries, while Travis Head set the tone with a rapid half-century. But Marnus Labuschagne‘s 20 off 50 balls stood out like a sore thumb. After being beaten all ends up by a sharp legbreak from Jeffrey Vandersay on his first ball, Labuschagne continued to struggle just before lunch on the first day in what was perhaps the only period in the match where Sri Lanka were competitive. He eventually poked Vandersay to slip as his century drought extended since Manchester in 2023. There had been some speculation that Labuschagne might be dropped, but coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed he would play. Labuschagne would want a decent score with pressure starting to mount and competition for spots heating up with the emergence of Inglis and Sam Konstas in recent times.
Team news – SL could get Nissanka boost, Connolly in line for debut
Sri Lanka could receive a much-needed boost with opener Pathum Nissanka expected to return after missing the first Test with a groin strain. He is set to replace Oshada Fernando, who made just 7 and 6 in the series opener. Offspinner Ramesh Mendis has been added to the squad and is set to replace Nishan Peiris, who failed to penetrate in the opening Test. Mendis took six wickets in his most recent Test – against New Zealand in Galle last September – and will add batting depth having made three half-centuries in his last six first-class innings.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dinesh Chandimal, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kusal Mendis (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Jeffrey Vandersay, 11 Asitha Fernando
Australia’s line-up is settled but left-arm spin-bowling allrounder Cooper Connolly could be in line for his Test debut with sharp turn expected on this surface. The 21-year-old Connolly is a much stronger batter than bowler at this point of his fledgling career and would add significant batting depth. He is wicketless from 96 deliveries in his first-class career so far, but could be dangerous in spin-friendly conditions. If Connolly plays, Murphy is likely to make way.
Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Travis Head, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Alex Carey (wk), 7 Beau Webster, 8 Cooper Connolly/Todd Murphy, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Matthew Kuhnemann, 11 Nathan Lyon
Pitch and conditions
The first Test’s slow surface won’t be reused. Instead, a couple of pitches away, the surface for this match has looked drier in the lead-up, fueling belief that conditions might be heavily skewed towards spin.
The players will again have to come to grips with stifling humidity, but clear conditions are forecast through the match after wet weather impacted some of the opening Test.
Stats and trivia
- Khawaja needs 133 runs to become the 16th Australian to reach 6000 Test runs
- Starc needs five wickets to overtake Ian Botham’s tally of 383 wickets and move into the top 20 on the all-time list
- Sri Lanka are on a three-match losing streak – they have lost four consecutive Tests only twice in the past decade: to New Zealand/England in 2015-16 and against South Africa/England in 2020-21
Quotes
“Same as last Test, we’re going to wait pretty late and see what the wicket looks like. It looked drier two days out compared to the first [Test]”
Steven Smith, Australia stand-in captain, about any potential changes to his team
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
