Sri Lanka records innings victory over Australia in 2nd test

It was Sri Lanka’s first win by an innings against Australia since they first met in 1983.

Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya picked up the fourth-best figures in the history of test match cricket by a debutant to back up Dinesh Chandimal’s first double hundred as Sri Lanka beat Australia by an innings and 39 runs on Monday.

Australia lost nine wickets in a dramatic last session to lose the game with a day to spare. It was Sri Lanka’s first win by an innings against Australia since they first met in 1983.

Australia had conceded a first innings lead of 190 and its openers did well to add 49 runs for the first wicket before Ramesh Mendis made the breakthrough by dismissing David Warner (24). Jayasuriya then ran through the middle order.

A late replacement after the Sri Lankan camp was hit by several cases of COVID-19, Jayasuriya bowled with impeccable control pitching to perfect lengths to hamper the Australian batsmen.

It was a remarkable turnaround for Sri Lanka, which was routed by 10 wickets in the first test and then lost four players due to COVID-19. They brought in three debutants: Jayasuriya was man of the match claiming 12 wickets for 177 runs, Maheesh Theekshana had three wickets, and Kamindu Mendis hit a half-century.

Former captain Chandimal put Sri Lanka in a winning position with a stunning counterattack to post his career-best score. Chandimal resumed the day on 118 and finished unbeaten on 206 to become the first Sri Lankan to post a double hundred against Australia. He batted for more than nine hours and faced 326 deliveries hitting 16 fours and five sixes.

When Sri Lanka’s ninth wicket fell, Chandimal was 159 not out and it didn’t look like he would get to a double hundred but then he took the opposition by surprise by striking the ball cleanly and sending it out of the ground on three occasions.