Usman Khawaja achieved his first double century for Australia while debutant Josh Inglis scored a hundred against Sri Lanka enabling the team to reach a massive 654 for six before declaring their first innings on the second day of the opening Test match on Thursday.
Australia achieved their highest test score in Asia through Usman Khawaja’s marathon 232 and his century-plus partnerships with Steve Smith and Inglis.
At the Galle International Stadium stand-in skipper Smith scored 141 runs while Inglis hit 102 runs from 94 balls to help Australia accumulate a massive score.
Sri Lanka reached the score of 44-3 in their weak reply before rainfall halted play while their hosts led by 610 runs and faced a follow-on.
The Sri Lankan match revival begins on Friday with Kamindu Mendis (13) and Dinesh Chandimal (nine) leading their fight to survive.
The Sri Lanka team showed poor decision-making during their Wednesday review sessions when they failed to overturn two not-out calls against Australian players.
Australia ended the lengthy 266-run partnership between Smith and Khawaja on Thursday because they got a crucial review decision correct and arrived at the crease at 330-2.
Smith became Australia’s fourth batter to reach 10,000 Test runs on Wednesday when he lunged forward to defend Jeffrey Vandersay’s angling delivery that struck his pad.
Sri Lanka’s lbw appeal was denied but captain Dhananjaya de Silva used the review system which resulted in Smith leaving the field when replays showed the ball would have hit the off-stump.
Spinner Nishan Peiris dismissed Inglis through lbw when the latter reached his half-century. The batter requested a review which resulted in a reversal after replays showed he nicked the delivery.
Khawaja reached his 200 by hitting a run-scoring shot against spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. The 38-year-old dropped to the ground to hug Inglis during his celebration.
Against Sri Lanka’s spin attack Khawaja neutralized their game with sweep and reverse sweep shots while charging out to disrupt the bowlers’ rhythm.
Khawaja was caught behind by Jayasuriya (3-193) who ended his impressive innings of 16 fours and a six.
Inglis achieved a 90-ball century and celebrated by punching the air as his parents applauded from the stands.
Vandersay the leg-spinner gave away 182 runs during his 38-over spell while he took three wickets.