Australia has gained a massive advantage at the end of Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka, being played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Starting the day at 330/2, Australia continued their batting dominance. Captain Steve Smith was the first to depart after scoring a well-compiled 141 runs. The spotlight, however, belonged to Usman Khawaja, who achieved his maiden Test double century with a brilliant 232 runs. This marks the first time an Australian batter has scored a double century against Sri Lanka in Test cricket.
Adding to Australia’s heroics, debutant Josh Inglis smashed a century, making it the second-fastest debut Test century in cricket history. He ended his innings on 102 runs.
Australia eventually declared their innings at 654/6, leaving Sri Lanka with an enormous challenge ahead.
Sri Lanka’s innings began with Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando, but both fell cheaply for just 7 runs each. Mitchell Starc dismissed Karunaratne, marking his 700th international wicket, becoming only the third Australian bowler to reach this milestone.
By stumps, Sri Lanka was struggling at 44/3, still trailing by 610 runs, with Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis at the crease, facing an uphill battle against Australia’s dominant bowling attack.