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Australia are well on top after a day’s play of the first Test match against Sri Lanka with a chance to bat the game out of reach. Join The Roar from 2:15pm (AEST) for live scores and coverage from 2:15pm (AEST).
Although rain may have cut the first day short, Australia made a huge impact throughout the opening two sessions of the series, putting themselves in prime position to build a big first innings lead today.
A bowling blitzkrieg from the Baggy Greens saw them shoot out of the gates, with the Sri Lankan batting line-up crumbling in the first session.
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Five wickets before lunch, plus two more in the first over after the break left the home side on the back foot and limping towards triple figures.
Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc got things going strongly, before spinners Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon finished things off with style.
Sri Lanka would only make 117 with Dhananjaya de Silva top scoring with 24, while no one in the top three got out of single figures.
Despite losing openers David Warner and Joe Burns early, Usman Khawaja and skipper Steve Smith steadied the ship for the visitors to leave them trailing by just 51 runs when rain forced an early finish to play in Kandy.
From an Australian point of view, it’s important these two bat out at least the first hour to keep the Lankans from burning through the batting order much like the Australians did, on a pitch that suggests it could happen.
A total of 117 is going to be a tough ask to defend for any side in the world and the Sri Lankans may find themselves chasing big during their second innings. But as with anything in Test cricket, you can never really know. Plenty will be revealed about how this match is going to go today.
Join The Roar for live coverage of Day 2 from 2:15pm (AEST).