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Australia may have lost the first Test in Sri Lanka yesterday but they should be buoyed by the admirable grit they showed as they scrapped to avoid defeat.
In a low-scoring Test which saw only two batsmen reach 50, Kusal Mendis’ maiden Test ton of 176 won the match for the hosts. But they were not able to simply roll over Australia, who yesterday displayed the kind of patience and circumspection with the blade which all too often has been missing from their play in tough circumstances.
Steve Smith, Adam Voges and Mitch Marsh all worked hard for their runs before being undone by the relentless accuracy of veteran spinner Rangana Herath, who was outstanding. None of that trio gave away their wickets lightly.
Relive The Roar’s live coverage of the first Test.
Sri Lanka defeat Australia: Scoreboard
Sri Lanka score famous Test win over Australia
Then wicketkeeper Peter Nevill and hobbled tail ender Steve O’Keefe produced one of the all-time great stonewalling efforts.
Nevill and O’Keefe’s enthralling blockathon was reminiscent of the never-say-die partnership by South Africa’s Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers in India last year.
As I wrote of that stand at the time, “No sport does boring as well as Test cricket. In what other game can hour after hour of utter boredom erupt in the space of a single delivery, with a draw or a victory leaving previously reserved players and fans in a state of rapture?”
So it was yesterday as the Sri Lanka players and supporters celebrated with unbridled joy when finally they broke the stoic union of Nevill and O’Keefe. Incredibly, that pair managed to survive for 178 balls in the face of fine bowling and a ring of close-in fielders.
In the process, they broke the Test record for the slowest-scoring partnership of more than 100 deliveries. That title had been owned by Amla and de Villiers, who went at just 0.64 runs per over during their 253-ball stand.
The Australian pair smashed that record, scoring at just 0.13 runs per over. They went the final 138 balls of their partnership without scoring a run. Rarely in cricketing history has a four-run stand been so impressive.
Numerous times in recent years, Australia have found themselves in positions like yesterday, where they needed to value their wickets like gold dust. Often they have collapsed in a heap, shown up either for poor defensive techniques or questionable temperaments, or both.
While it is cold comfort amid the stinging pain of a comprehensive defeat, Australia should take heart and take heed of the application their batsmen showed yesterday. Batting likely will not be easy in the next Test at Galle, which tends to favour spinners more than Kandy.
In each of the last five Tests at Galle, spin has dominated. In the last Test played there, Herath took ten wickets against the West Indies. The match before that, 31 of 40 wickets fell to spin as Indian offie Ravi Ashwin snared a ten-wicket haul and Herth grabbed seven in the second dig.
In each of the previous two Tests a spinner took nine wickets, while in the one before that, Sri Lankan finger spinner Dilruwan Perera pocketed eight scalps.
Of great concern for the Australians is the fact that Galle is the most successful venue for Herath, who took 9-103 at Kandy. He has an incredible record at Galle, having taken eight five-wicket hauls at that ground, amid a total of 78 wickets at 24 from 14 Tests.
This week at Galle Sri Lanka are certain to again field three frontline spinners. At Kandy, Sri Lanka’s spinners bowled 85 per cent of their overs, with lone fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep delivering just six of the 88 overs in the second dig.
Australia, too, will be relying heavily on spin at Galle. Nathan Lyon, who took 5-120 at Kandy, is expected to be partnered by debutant Jon Holland. The left arm tweaker has been flown to Sri Lanka to replace O’Keefe, who has injured his right hamstring.
O’Keefe will be a big loss for Australia, having bowled beautifully at Kandy in addition to his batting efforts. They will need a lift from first-choice spinner Lyon, who ran amok in the first innings but could not maintain pressure on the Sri Lankans in their second dig. While Lyon has improved significantly as a bowler over the past two years, he still has a point to prove in Asia.
With O’Keefe out, there will be a heavier burden on Lyon. How he shoulders that in the next two Tests will determine whether Australia can fight their way back into this series.