Debutant Nathan Lyon exposed Sri Lanka’s weakness to spin bowling on the second day of the first test here, even as Australia gained the upper-hand by virtue of a 168-run first innings lead. The Aussies now lead by 283 runs, with three days left in the first test of the Warne-Muralidaran trophy series.
At close of play on Day 2, Australia had progressed to 115 for the loss of 6 wickets in their second innings when rain stopped play. Sri Lanka will need all its experienced batsmen to perform in the second innings, if it has to make a match of the first test.
The Australian second innings began disastrously with Shane Watson cutting the first ball of the match straight to Samaraweera at gully. Then, it was the turn of the most experienced batsman in the side, Ricky Ponting, to question the selectors’ wisdom in picking him. With a mere 5 runs on the board, Ponting tried to pull a rising delivery. Both the ball and the bat flew. The ball towards short mid-on, and the bat towards short backward point: that was Ponting’s second indiscretion in as many innings which cost him his wicket.
The Lyon fairy tale
Looks like the search for a successor to Shane Warne is over. Debutant Nathan Lyon, a curator who moved from Canberra to Adelaide and stepped into the Big League, picked up five wickets on a track that was beginning to look like a bowler’s paradise, on the way to bowling out Sri Lanka for a paltry 105 on the second day of the first test of the series here. The last four wickets added 5 runs.
After picking up a wicket off his first ball in test cricket, Lyon ran through the Sri Lankan lower order. He had snared 5 batsmen for 34 runs: before this run, he had managed 14 wickets in first-class cricket, in a short career.
Debutant Copeland too had an eventful start to his international career. Copeland, who is the joint highest wicket-taker in the Australian Shield in 2010-11, joined a rare league of bowlers who got a wicket in the first over on debut. T.M.Dilshan cracked his first ball in international cricket through the covers for a boundary, as if to say ‘Hello and welcome to the Big Boys Club.’ Copeland’s next ball was wide outside the off-stump, inviting a repeat. Dilshan could not resist the offer, went with the stroke, only to see Ponting at short covers pull off a stunner of a catch to his right. At the box reserved for invitees, next to the Media Enclosure, Copeland’s mother could not hold back her tears, as she savoured the moment.
For someone really tall (1.95 m), Copeland, who bowls medium pace and relies on seam and swing, does not appear fearsome. That possibly is the reason why Dilshan went after Copeland. But Copeland while slow, bowls a menacing line and length and waits – as long as it takes – for the batsman to make a mistake. One Australian journalist recalled an instance in a local match where Copeland bowled from one end through the morning session for New South Wales, and then, came back again in the afternoon to continue bowling. “He can bowl 20-25 overs on the trot. He keeps the ball up, extracts movement and bounce and waits for the batsman to make a mistake,” he said. Sounds quite like Praveen Kumar, but Copeland is clearly at an advantage because of his height.
Nathan Lyon, introduced in the 16th over, had a date with history: he became the 14th bowler in test history to take a wicket off his first ball in a test. Lyon, nearly as tall as England’s Swann, drew Sangakkara out with a looping, dipping delivery that took Sangakkara’s bat’s edge as it moved away after pitching. Clarke held on to a sharp chance at slip.
Lyon and Copeland conspired yet again for another big wicket. Paranavitana gently pushed Lyon towards backward point and set off for a single. Copeland, the fielder, was on the ball in a flash and threw it to wicket keeper Haddin. Mahela was still to get to the batting end when Haddin broke the stumps.
Lyon came back later in the afternoon to bowl a tentative Anjelo Mathews around his legs. Ranganna Herath, not known for his batting exploits, picked deep mid-wicket on the slog sweep. The dream debut was not over: Randiv’s full-blooded drive off Lyon was caught at short mid-on by Ponting. Lyon then invited Welegedara to drive uppishly and dived football goal-keeper style to his left to hold on to a catch high over his head. Lyon had arrived.
Clearly, the bowling was being led by a pack of green horns, even as the only bowler with over 100 tests to his credit, M.Johnson, preferred to come in first change. That looked a little more than strange.
Shane Watson contributed too. He was introduced into the attack for the first time in the afternoon. In his second over, he managed prodigious reverse swing and sent back both Samaraweera and P.Jayawardene with almost identical deliveries, coming in. Both batsmen were trapped in front. Then Watson managed to trap leg before the hermit-like Paranavitana, who was steady and solid in defence, and had scored just 29 off 115 balls. At that point, the challenge had effectively ended.
SCOREBOARD:
Australia (1st innings): 273 all out
Sri Lanka Batting (1st innings): T.M.Dilshan c Ponting b Copeland 4, T.Paranavitana lbw Watson 29, K.Sangakkara c Clarke b Lyon 10, M.Jayawardene (run out) 11, T.Samaraweera lbw Watson 26, P.Jayawardene lbw Watson 0, A. Mathews b Lyon 5, S.Randiv c Ponting b Lyon 9, R.Herath c Johnson b Lyon 0, S.Lakmal (not out) 2, C.Welegedara c and b Lyon 1. Extras (lb-4, nb-3, w-1) 8. Total: 105 all out in 50 overs
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-24, 3-44, 4-87, 5-87, 6-88, 7-100, 8-100, 9-103
Australia Bowling (1st innings): Ryan Harris 8-5-6-0, Copeland 12-3-24-1, Johnson 9-1-26-0, Lyon 15-3-34-5, Watson 6-1-11-3
Australia (2nd innings): S.Watson c Samaraweera b Welegedara 0, P.Hughes lbw Dilshan 28, R.Ponting c Herath b Lakmal 4, M.Clarke c P.Jayawardene b Herath 60, M.Hussey T. Paranavitana b R.Herath 15, U.Khawaja (not out) 2, B.Haddin c P.Jayawardene b Herath 0, M.Johnson (not out) 3.Extras (lb-2, nb-1) 3. Total 115 for 6 in 33.5 overs.
Fall of Wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-61, 4-110, 5-110, 6-112
Sri Lanka Bowling (2nd innings): C.Welegedara 3-3-0-1, Lakmal 5-2-18-1, R.Herath 12.5-0-51-3, S.Randiv 8-2-22-0, T.M.Dilshan 5-0-22-1.
