Today news
2025-01-31 04:09:00
Key events
For those who came in late, here’s a report on day two…
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Greetings sports fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of day three in this first Test between Australian and Sri Lanka at Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Australia are bossing this Test match. An Usman Khawaja double-century 232, Steve Smith’s 141 and Josh Inglis’s 102 on debut have set Sri Lanka the mountainous total of 654 (dec) – a new Australian record for Tests played in Asia. Sent in for an hour in the final session, Sri Lanka collapsed to 44-3!
Can the home side conjure a miracle and pull this Test out of the fire? They still have Dinesh Chandimal at the crease – his glorious double-century in 2022 led Sri Lanka to a comeback victory and a squared series. And his current partner Kamindu Mendis is no slouch either, having scored 1000+ Test runs last year at an average nudging 75.
But the road to another 610 runs and parity is long, winding and steep. It is also deadly, with Australia’s triple-threat spin cartel of Nathan Lyon (1-7), Matthew Kuhnemann (1-26) and Todd Murphy already developing an appetite for destruction.
Play starts at the traditional time of 3.21pm so batten ‘em down and buckle ‘em up. We’ll have action under way soon.
