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Australia destroy Sri Lanka to wrap up 2-0 series victory

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4th February, 2019
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Australia have completed a 2-0 rout of Sri Lanka to round off a tough home summer of cricket, finishing the first Test played at Manuka Oval inside four days.

The 366-run victory was a dominant one almost from start to finish, with the only time the Aussies really found themselves under pressure coming early on Day 1 after Tim Paine finally won a toss and elected to bat first.

After finding themselves at 3 for 28 on Day 1, it was over to Joe Burns, who had survived the early onslaught and Travis Head to bat through most of Day 1.

They did it with ease, putting on 307 for the fourth wicket. It was the biggest partnership by an Australian pair against Sri Lanka in history, with Head eventually falling for 161.

On a pitch which had flattened out and was giving the bowlers next to nothing, Kurtis Patterson then joined Head in belting his maiden first-class century.

He came away with 114 not out when Travis Head cut the innings short, declaring before tea on Day 2 and with himself still short of the half-century.

In reply, Sri Lanka were no match for the Aussies. Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne made a good start, but when Karunaratne got hit by a bouncer and had to retire hurt, they lost wickets quickly, finding themselves three down at the end of Day 2.

Karunaratne would return on Day 2, but Sri Lanka were all out for 215 shortly after lunch.

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Paine opted not to enforce the follow-on, giving his bowlers a spell as Usman Khawaja got a confidence-restoring century and Travis Head finished not out with another 50.

Australia declared late on Day 3, setting the tourists 516 to win, and while they didn’t get any wickets before stumps, things happened quickly on Day 4.

Mitchell Starc continued his return to form after he took five in the first innings, grabbing another five in the second as he took the final wicket to take a ten-wicket haul across the match, while Pat Cummins was also outstanding as Australia picked up a huge win in their final Test before the Ashes later this season.

Match summary

Australia 1st innings: 5dec/534 (132) [J.Burns 180, T.Head 161, K.Patterson 114*, T.Paine 45*, V.Fernando 3/126]
Sri Lanka 1st innings: all out/215 (68.3) [D.Karunaratne 59, L.Thirimanne 41, M.Starc 5/54]
Australia 2nd innings: 3dec/196 (47) [U.Khawaja 101*, T.Head 59*, K.Rajitha 2/64]
Sri Lanka 2nd innings: all out/ (51) [K.Mendis 42, M.Starc 5/46, P.Cummins 3/15]

Australia win the second Test by 366 runs to take a 2-0 series victory.

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