Lunch Sri Lanka 2 for 80 (Jayawardene 30*, Thirimanne 4*, Bird 2-14) v Australia
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On a day when Australia entered a Sydney Test with four fast bowlers and
sent the opposition in, Jackson Bird was the only one of Michael
Clarke's men who struck before lunch. Sri Lanka lost both openers to
Bird but given the green tinge to the pitch, which offered some early
movement for the fast bowlers, their score of 2 for 80 at the first
break was reasonable and importantly the captain Mahela Jayawardene had
made a good start, on 30, alongside Lahiru Thirimanne on 4.
Jayawardene had struck five boundaries, including a couple of strong
strokes through point, and he had already moved to his highest score of
what has been a disappointing tour for him personally. He also had a
life early; on 4, he edged Peter Siddle to second slip, where Michael
Hussey was slow to react to a chance he should have taken, and managed
only to get his left hand to the ball, which then ran away to the
boundary.
Thirimanne had also had a near miss first ball when he was given out lbw
off the bowling of Bird. After some consideration, Thirimanne asked for
a review and replays showed the ball had pitched just outside leg
stump, forcing Aleem Dar to overturn his decision. Until the replays,
Bird thought he was on a hat-trick after having Tillakaratne Dilshan
caught behind for 34 when he pushed at a ball that moved away and got a
thick outside edge through to Matthew Wade.
Dilshan had been steady and occupied the crease for 100 minutes before
his lapse, which was Bird's second wicket after he also got rid of
Dilshan's opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne. On 5, Karunaratne went for
a pull from just outside off stump but the ball bounced more than he
anticipated and his top edge flew high and over the slips cordon and was
taken by Hussey, running back with the flight of the ball from second
slip.
That wicket left Sri Lanka at 1 for 26 and gave Clarke some
encouragement after he sent Sri Lanka in. Australia's two left-armers,
Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson, struggled to create any real
opportunities and some turn and bounce from Nathan Lyon, who bowled two
overs before lunch, might have had Australia's selectors wondering about
the wisdom of their decision to leave Glenn Maxwell out and include
four fast men.
The inclusion of Starc for the injured Shane Watson was the only change
for Australia, while Sri Lanka were forced to bring four new men in to
cover for injuries. Dinesh Chandimal will keep wicket and bat at No.7
instead of Prasanna Jayawardene, who suffered a hairline fracture to his
thumb in Melbourne.
Thirimanne was included as a replacement for Kumar Sangakkara, who also
suffered a broken digit in the MCG Test, and had little time to
acclimatise having just flown in from Sri Lanka. The same can be said of
Suranga Lakmal, who has been thrust into the side in place of Shaminda
Eranga, who hurt his ankle at training on match eve. There will also be
an opportunity for the fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep, who has been named as a
replacement for the injured Chanaka Welegedara (hamstring).
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
Feeds: Brydon Coverdale
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