13 hours Ago By Web Sports Desk
Australia delivered a dominant performance against Sri Lanka on Saturday, securing a commanding victory by an innings and 242 runs in the first Test of the two-match series. Matthew Kuhnemann starred with the ball, claiming seven wickets on the final day and nine in total. Sri Lanka First Innings Resuming with five wickets in hand, Sri Lanka struggled against Kuhnemann’s relentless bowling.
He claimed three quick scalps, starting with Kusal Mendis, who top-edged a delivery to Todd Murphy at square leg. Nathan Lyon trapped Dinesh Chandimal lbw before Kuhnemann struck again, dismissing Prabath Jayasuriya for a duck. Lyon continued the onslaught, taking Nishan Peiris' wicket with a sharp inside edge that Josh Inglis caught at short leg.
Kuhnemann wrapped up the innings by removing Jeffrey Vandersay, whose leading edge was caught by Mitchell Starc at cover. Sri Lanka was bowled out for 165, trailing by 489 runs, prompting Australia to enforce the follow-on. Railways police seize non-custom-paid goods in Jaffer Express raid Sri Lanka Second Innings Sri Lanka’s batting woes continued as Oshada Fernando departed in the third over, trapped lbw by Starc.
Dimuth Karunaratne followed soon after, shouldering arms to a Todd Murphy delivery that crashed into his stumps. Dinesh Chandimal provided a brief fightback with 31 runs before he gloved a Lyon delivery to short leg. Kuhnemann then removed Kamindu Mendis, who holed out to Starc at deep midwicket.
Lyon struck again in the following over, sending Angelo Mathews back as he was caught at short leg. Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva’s promising knock ended when he edged Kuhnemann to cover before Lyon dismissed Kusal Mendis and Jayasuriya in quick succession. Kuhnemann finished the job, bowling Peiris before Vandersay was caught by Starc.
Australia’s emphatic victory sets the tone for the series as they head into the second Test with momentum firmly on their side. Mohsin Naqvi says no call yet from US Tags: Australia Sri Lanka.
