2016 Sri Lanka Vs Australia First Test @ Pallekelle International Stadium July 26-30,2016

Australia play 3 Test Matches;5ODI's and 2 T20's against Sri Lanka

  

 

3-Match Test Series Results

First Test @ Pallekelle International Stadium July 26-30,2016

Scorecard
Sri Lanka 117 and 353
Australia  203 and 161
Match Result -SRi Lanka won by 106 Runs
MOM - Kusal Mendis(Sri Lanka)for his 176(254 Balls 4x21 and 6x1)




Day One Tuesday July 26,2016

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first

Test Debuts - Dhananjaya de Silva and Lakshan Sandakan make their debuts for Sri Lanka.

Squads

Sri Lanka
Kusal Mendis, Diinesh Chandimal (wk), Angelo Mathews (c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep
Australia
David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon


The 5th morning began late due to rain and it started with Sri Lanka needing seven wickets and Australia requiring 185 runs

Australia's penultimate pair batted together for 178 balls for just 4 runs, a boundary scored by O'Keefe, whose hamstring injury prevented him from running

In the end, it didn't matter. Herath led Sri Lanka to victory, his threat ever-present, his mastery of flight, his persistent accuracy and subtle variations forcing intense concentration from Australia

The eventual margin of 106 runs is all the more extraordinary when you consider the way this match began. Sri Lanka were skittled for 117 in the first innings and early in their second were 6 for 2, in real danger of a humiliating innings defeat. They still needed 80 runs just to make Australia bat again. But Mendis walked to the crease and from then on, it was a different game. His hundred, only his second in first-class cricket, will go down as one of Sri Lanka's greatest
Scorecard
Sri Lanka 117 and 353
Australia  203 and 161
Match Result -SRi Lanka won by 106 Runs
MOM - Kusal Mendis(Sri Lanka)for his 176(254 Balls 4x21 and 6x1)

The 21-year-old Mendis, whose 176-run knock was laced with 21 fours and a six, registered his maiden Test ton to enable Sri Lanka to post 353 in the second innings and overcome an 86-run deficit.

Angelo Mathews will join Sanath Jayasuriya as the only Sri Lanka captains to beat Australia in a Test, so Steven Smith will now sit alongside Steve Waugh as the only Australians to lead their side to defeat against Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Create New Record After Historic Win Over Australia

 When Sri Lanka had dismissed Nathan Lyon for five on the fifth day of the first Test in Pallekele, Australia were 157/8 and were staring at their seventh consecutive loss in Asia. Peter Nevill, the wicketkeeper was joined by the injured Steven O'Keefe and they were only delaying the inevitable

After six quiet over, O'Keefe got off the mark with a boundary and after 63 overs, Australia were 161/8.

What followed afterwards was a staggering passage of play in which Nevill and O'Keefe displayed their version of the blockathon. For 25.4 overs or 150 balls, Sri Lanka did not concede a single run. Both Nevill and O'Keefe handled Rangana Herath, Lakshan Sandakan, Dilruwan Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva with ease.

The partnership between Nevill and O'Keefe was worth only four runs but it had consumed 178 balls. Their run-rate of 0.13 was the lowest in Test cricket and it seemed they would escape with a miraculous draw as the light deteriorated.

However, Dhananjaya de Silva dismissed Nevill while Rangana Herath cleaned up O'Keefe for 4 to end up with his 24th five-wicket haul and give Sri Lanka their first victory over Australia after 17 years.

The sequence of bowling 25.4 maiden overs was a new world record, breaking the previous mark of 92 or 15.2 overs played by England against the West Indies in 1950 at Lord's. In that year, West Indies registered their first Test win in England.