Twitter reactions: Ramesh and Kusal Mendis hold fort amidst Australia’s bowling dominance on Day 1 of the second Test

The first day of the second and final Test match was a constant tug of war between the two sides as each wanted to assert early dominance over the other and set the tone of the contest in their favour. As a result, the contest ended in a finely poised state between the two sides on the opening day with several positives and disappointment for both the teams. In the end, Sri Lanka managed to withstand the Australian bowlers’ relentless attacks and bat for an entire day for the first time in the series.

Sri Lankan batting order dismantled

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first at the Galle International Stadium with the hope that its batters will finally rise to the occasion and face the Australian bowlers with a sense of purpose. The speculation was not indeed miscalculated as the Sri Lankan batters did bat with some added dynamics compared to the horror-show they had in the previous Test match.

The Sri Lankan top-order however, did collapse before reaching the 100-run mark and put the team in a detrimental position. It as during this time that a 70-run partnership developed between Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal which stabilized the Sri Lankan innings and avoided the inevitable collapse. Chandimal was the main pillar of strength of the Sri Lankan innings with an impeccable 74-run knock off 163 balls.

For Australia, it was a remarkable performance by its spinners which turned out to be the difference maker. Nathan Lyon turned the tide in the visitors’ favour with 3 wickets to his name. Contributions from Mathhew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc and Travis Head were also noteworthy as they clinched 1 wicket each for their side.

Also Read: Dimuth Karunaratne names his most memorable innings as Sri Lanka’s captain

‘The Mendis effect’ saved the day for Sri Lanka

Despite its top-order and middle-order collapsing to the Australian bowling prowess, everything was not entirely lost for the Sri Lankans. Just when it appeared that the innings might derail following skipper Dhananjaya Da Silva’s dismissal, a heroic partnership between tailenders Kusal Mendis and Ramesh Mendis averted the downfall and added crucial runs in Sri Lanka’s total. The partnership was also crucial in the sense that the pitch is expected to help the spinners even more as the match progresses on the 2nd and the 3rd day and Australia will have to face a decorated spin line-up from the home side.

The partnership between the two batters came to an end as Ramesh was sent back to the pavilion by Mitchell Starc. The two batters added 65 runs between them and faced 140 balls to frustrate the Australian bowlers on the turning track. Crucially, Starc dismissed Prabath Jayasuriya almost immediately inching the end of Sri Lankan innings on the opening day itself. At the end of the day’s play Sri Lanka reached a total of 229/9 in 90 overs with Kusal still on the crease trying to add much runs he can to the team’s total. The wicket-keeper batter stands unbeaten at the end of the day with 59 runs off 107 balls.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Also Read: SL vs AUS: Nathan Lyon opens up on Australia’s ambition of whitewashing Sri Lanka in the Test series