1st Test, Galle, June 29 – July 03, 2022, Australia tour of Sri Lanka (Usman Khawaja 47*, Travis Head 6*, Dhananjaya de Silva 0/4) – Stumps, SL vs AUS, 1st Test, day 2, live score, 2022

And on that note, that’s a wrap for today. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to join us tomorrow morning for the 10am start. For myself, Gnasher and Binoy, it’s goodbye for now!

Sharat Verma: “Madushka, your explanation to @ Nitish’s comments for Smith’s run out made me more confused. Right now I only have access to Cricinfo, so please explain me who was more responsiblefor his run out.” Apologies Sharat, let me try again. Essentially, once the ball found its way towards point, Smith looked for the run and could be seen calling Khawaja. Khawaja and Smith both hesitate but eventually Khawaja comes. But he gets about two thirds down before changing his mind and sending Smith back, who by that time was almost face to face with his teammate. For what it’s worth, I do think that if Khawaja doesn’t hesitate and legs it, he makes his ground in time at the striker’s end. At least that was my viewing of it, Caleb below has a slightly different interpretation. And I’m sure Smith and Khawaja will hash it out as well.

Caleb: “What happened with the run out is Khawaja called the single, Smith stuttered twice at which point Khawaja assumed he wasn’t coming, pulled out and put his head down. As Khawaja did that, Smith finally decided to go, but it was too late. Not a lot Khawaja did wrong, apart from maybe not calling no loud enough, but in his defence it looked like Smith wasn’t coming.”

Idrees: “Usman Khawaja is on 47* (86) and coincidentally his average is 47.86. Stats, stats, stats.”

5.31pm So Khawaja remains unbeaten on 47, and with him is Travis Head on 6. Australia trail by 114 runs and will likely be the happier of the two sides, after an exciting first day’s play. Nathan Lyon (5 for 90) and Mitchell Swepson (3 for 55) took eight wickets between them to dismiss Sri Lanka for 212, on a pitch that is offering more than a little assistance for the spinners. That could have been much worse for the hosts had it not been for a gem of a counter-attacking knock from Niroshan Dickwella, whose 59-ball 58 helped lift Sri Lanka from a precarious 97 for 5 to something a little more respectable. Australia began their innings in a hurry, but once Warner was dismissed for a 24-ball 25, the rate slowed down. It also helped that the Lankan spinners towards the end of the day looked to have found better lengths. The runout of Smith was certainly a bonus, but Australia will still be quite pleased with proceedings. Australia’s goal tomorrow will be to build as big a lead as possible on a wicket that will likely only become tougher to bat on. As for the hosts, they’ll want more consistency from their spinners having come into the Test with just the one frontline seamer.