Australia vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test: Jhye Richardson stars on debut as Australia take Day 1 at Brisbane

Jhye Richardson has been in good form for quite some time now. After a good ODI series against India, the 22-year-old had a Test debut to remember against Sri Lanka at Brisbane on Thursday.

In the first Test of the series, the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first. But to their dismay, batsmen disappointed on day 1 as none of them had answers to Australia's brilliant pace attack.

Pat Cummins, the newly appointed vice-captain of Australia, starred with the ball alongside the debutant, Jhye Richardson. The duo shared seven wickets between them in 28 overs for only 65 runs. They ran through a helpless Sri Lanka's batting order and bowled them out for 144.

Jhye Richardson bowled beautifully on debut, hitting perfect line and length. Opted to bat first, both Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne were scratchy at the start and struggled against the Australian opening bowlers in the first hour of play. While Mitchell Starc struggled to settle in, the debutant kept things in check. It was Cummins who got the opening break when he dismissed Thirimanne for just 12.

Richardson then dismissed Chandimal for five runs and Lyon chipped in with the wicket of Karunaratne before lunch. Sri Lanka were reduced to 66 for five just after lunch. Dickwella produced some much-needed fireworks to push the total past 100. Sri Lanka finally folded for 144 as Dickwella finished with a well-made 64 off 78 balls.

When the host came out of to bat under the lights, they made a positive start even when the conditions were in favor of the visitors. Joe Burns was dismissed for a paltry 15 on his Test comeback. Harris played freely and remained not out on 40 off 82 balls.

Australia trail Sri Lanka only by 72 runs in the first innings and have eight wickets in hand. They are in a commanding position at the moment and the Test match could very well be over if Australia bat the whole of Day 2.