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January 27, 2025
Sri Lanka and Australia renew rivalry in interesting climes at Galle

Sri Lanka Cricket

By Srian Obeyesekere

Sri Lanka renews rivalry against a Steve Smith led Australia in a home series in a 2-test series starting on January 29 Wednesday in familiar Galle climes that has often favoured the hosts on a fairly pleasing note despite a 20 to 5 win deficit from 33 matches going by the 1-all drawn home series in 2022 following a resounding 3-nil whitewash of the Aussies in 2016 in tasting their first triumph in 17 years with captain to captain Dhananjaya de Silva pitted against Steve Smith who interestingly takes over the reins from rested regular captain Pat Cummins following a 7-year long hiatus when he lost the job on disciplinary grounds in the now infamous sandpaper ball tampering controversy in 2018 versus South Africa.

While both sides would draw from that even Stevens exchanges when they last met when Australia won the first test at Galle by an innings and 39 runs from which the once deposed veteran batsman Smith would be inspired by his match winning unbeaten 145 this time out in his temporary as it is back in the saddle fling in a likable flexing of muscles in the big boots against the Lankans, Sri Lanka too would be buoyed by the comeback levelling 10-wicket triumph in the second test driven by Dinesh Chandimal’s unbeaten double century 206.

Abounding in this face off is the added glamour Test Championship that has colored the centuries long longer version of cricket in springing out of its parochial conventional outlook by the champion tag attached to it where it is an important gearing up step to Australia, now preparing for the mega finals against South Africa at the game’s hallowed Lords citadel.

Interestingly, from a Sri Lankan view point bleeding such a highly insulated powerhouse would be a plus point to Dhananjaya de Silva and company despite having lost out in the race to making it from a position Sri Lanka was in with a chance but faded off.

Both sides carry injury problems with Sri Lanka’s tried and trusted opening batsman Pathum Nissanka out with groin injury which has prompted the selectors to bring in Isuru Udara and Sonal Dinusha as standbys. Skipper de Silva and Kamindu Mendis too have been cleared from injury to play.

Pertinently, the 26-year old Kamindu Mendis, voted Emerging ICC Cricketer of the Year 2024, does carry a spellbinding twin century and fastest batsman to1000-run impact from 5 innings, his fourth Test century in Sri Lanka’s first innings against New Zealand. Of his previous Test centuries, two came in the same match in Sylhet earlier this year against Bangladesh, before scoring his third against England at Old Trafford. Mendis’s test career in fact began in 2022 against Australia scoring 61, but was sidelined for almost two years from the Sri Lanka Test side from where his take off has been magical.

Notably, from the side that toured in 2022, Australia are without spade worker with the bat David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, who was one of their match winning century makers and the injured Josh Hazlewood while hard hitting playmaker Glenn Maxwell could not find a place. McSweeney, who lost his place during the series against India, is back.

SQUADS:

Sri Lanka
Dhananjaya de Silva (capt.), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake.

Australia
Steve Smith (Capt.), Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Nathan McSweeney, Nathan Lyon, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc, Scott Bolan Sean Abbot, Todd Murphy.

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