Adrian Holdstock (South Africa), Joel Wilson (West Indies), Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand, TV)
Referee
Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
Toss
Sri Lanka elected to bat
Pitch Report
The wicket is definitely crumbling. As you would expect on Day 4, spin will come into play. But the new ball with a pronounced seam may talk more. But then, Sri Lanka need a massive leave for that!
VENUE STATS
1st Innings
375Avg Runs
9Avg Wkts
55.37Avg
SR
2nd Innings
307Avg Runs
10Avg Wkts
50.95Avg
SR
3rd Innings
239Avg Runs
8Avg Wkts
53.67Avg
SR
4th Innings
160Avg Runs
7Avg Wkts
48.57Avg
SR
Weather Update
Weather Update
Galle,Sri Lanka
Updated: 09 Feb 11:30
28.4°CClouds
overcast clouds
3%
Clouds
0%
Rain %
95%
Humidity
3.9 kmph
Wind
Playing XILineups Out
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SL
AUS
Draw
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Experts are creating their teams, watch this space
Expert Team 1
T Head
M Starc
Expert Team 2
S Smith
U Khawaja
Venue Details
Galle International Stadium
The wicket is definitely crumbling. As you would expect on Day 4, spin will come into play. But the new ball with a pronounced seam may talk more. But then, Sri Lanka need a massive leave for that!
The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
A series dominated by Australia and it reflects on the 2-0 result in their favour. Sri Lanka couldn't quite compete in familiar home conditions and would be utterly disappointed with how things panned out in the series. Australia have won their first series in Sri Lanka in 14 years. The spin duo of Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon bagged 30 wickets between them while Mitchell Starc also chipped in with some crucial wickets. Most of the members from the two teams will now travel to Colombo for a two match ODI series. The first match will be played on 12th February at the R Premadasa Stadium. We have a lot of cricketing action left in the day. India is slated to play the second ODI against England while we also have the ILT20 final in a few hours time. Buckle up for a busy Sunday but for now this is the pair of Arya Sekhar Chakraborty and Bidipto Datta biding adieu.
Steve Smith being presented two trophies. One from the official sponsors and then the important one, The Warne-Muralidaran trophy. It's time for them to pose for photographs. Australia will be really proud of what they have achieved.
Steve Smith (Australian captain and the Player of the Series): Yeah it was a really good sdies. We played really well from the outset. The batters adapted to the conditions. Everyone had a method of scoring runs and all the bowlers did a brilliant job. Mitchell Starc and the spinners did their job brilliantly. We came up with better plans and it's great to see how the batters played against some quality spin. We had a really good training camp in Dubai a week before the series. Usman, Carey used the reverse sweep. Me and Marnus used their feet. We tried to be successful in our own ways. It's been really fun. We have got a great group. The guys have been exceptional. I enjoy captaining in subcontinent. Was fun few weeks to be honest. It was an important stand at that point. Alex played really well and put the pressure back on the bowlers. The partnership helped us get ahead in the game.
Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka captain): Well obviously very disappointed. Losing series 2-0 is very disappointing in home. We didn't have the opportunity to get into the game from the first Test and proved why they are the finalists of WTC. I am taking about the first innings always. We haven't batted or bowled well. 260 is not good enough for a Test match. Losing four wickets in an hour won't going to help you. Yes the consistency was lacking. The Australian bowlers kept hitting one area and a similar trajectory.
Steve Smith gets the Player of the Series Award. He will have a chat later.
Alex Carey is the Player of the Match, here is what he had to say: Firstly congratulations to Dimuth. Outstanding career and I wish him all the best. I was elevated up the order due to some back spams. Smudge was quite brilliant which helped me all through the innings. It's using your feet at the right time, manipulating the field and summing up the bowler's plan. It was a good wicket when the ball pitched in the full area. It's fun keeping on these surfaces. Kusal did a great job as well. Full credit to the bowlers for creating 40 chances in the tournament.
Dimuth Karunaratne: I am emotional! It has been a long career. After my family, I have spent the most time with these players. So it's special to have finished it with them. It was one of my goals to play 100 Test matches. I could not achieve 10000 Test runs, but I am happy the way I am today. I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. I will go to Australia for coaching lessons. Then, I will like to spend some time with my family. In the future of course, coaching sides, including the Sri Lankan team, will be on my agenda. As part of my message, all I will say is that we all have to say goodbye one day, but the journey has been really good thus far!
12:02 pm local time (12:02 pm IST): It's time now for the post-match presentation!
Mitchell Starc: It has been a pleasing performance! It's never easy winning here, so to do with like this is special. Some guys are new here, some are around for some time, but having done what we have, it's now time to look forward to the World Test Championship final. We are finding different ways to win, but going to England and adapting to the conditions there will be key. We haven't played South Africa for quite some time. So let's see how it goes. The bowling unit always enjoys itself, no matter who is in there. We were fortunate enough to win the last WTC final, we have the chance to do it again. I've played different roles throughout my career, this series has been no different.
1:50 PM local time (11:50 PM IST): Australia won by 9 wickets
An utterly dominating performance through the two-match series has culminated in a series win in Sri Lanka after 2011. This Australian team was head and shoulders above their opposition in both the two Tests. Another dominating performance in the second Test as they win by 9 wickets to win the series 2-0. Sri Lanka surrendered the advantage on Day 1 of the second Test after winning the toss and batting first.
After a solid stand between Dimuth Karunaratne who was playing his 100th and final Test and Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka completely lost their way in the post-lunch session which turned the game towards Australia and Sri Lanka could never really recover from that. Chandimal batted well for a composed 74 while the middle order crumbled like a pack of cards.
It needed a brilliant knock from Kusal Mendis (85) which helped Sri Lanka get to a competitive score of 257. For Australia, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon batted three wickets each. On a pitch which turned pretty much from Day 1, ths Australian duo of Steve Smith and Alex Carey produced a masterclass in the first innings.
Australia were reduced to 91/3 when Alex Carey came out to join Steve Smith in the middle. It was batsmanship of the highest order as they tackled a quality spin attack without any heckle. Both Smith and Carry scored magnificent centuries and shared a massive 259 run stand to almost bat Sri Lanka out of the game. However, the hosts came out with a purpose on Day 3 and bowled out Australia for 414.
They lost their last seven wickets for just 64 runs which gave Sri Lanka an outside chance to claw their way back in the game. The top and the middle order failed to make an impact the second time around as they were reduced to 39/3. From there on, it needed something really special from the experienced Angelo Mathews to bring them back in the game and he didn't disappoint. He kept losing wickets at other end but held fort at one end with a sturdy knock of 76.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva gave him good support but Mathew's departure at a crucial juncture again opened the floodgates for Australia. A couple more wickets in quick succession brought an end to the third day's play. When Sri Lanka came out to the middle on Day 4, they were always playing catch up. Kusal Mendis departed early which was the final nail in the coffin for the hosts. Lahiru Kumara then played a horrible shot to get bowled by Beau Webster. Australia needed 75 runs to win and both Travis Head and Usman Khawaja came out with positive intentions.
There were a few anxious moments for Australia with Nishan Peiris bowling a few unplayable deliveries. Head struck some lusty blows before Prabath Jayasuriya nicked him off. Marnus Labuschagne who needed some runs, struck some impressive shots and in the company of Usman Khawaja ensured that the Aussies reached the target without any further hiccups. Another convincing 9-wicket victory and this has been a performance to remember.
The players are shaking their hands and Smith with a few nice words for Karunaratne who has finished his career but not in the manner he would have wanted.
There is the moment. Australia dominated the series and goes on to win the series 2-0. Their first series win in the island nation in 14 years. They set the tone early, played an exceptional brand of cricket and in the end did something which many Australian players hadn't achieved in more than a decade. They controlled both the games and were by far the best team in the series.
17.4 Dimuth Karunaratne to Marnus Labuschagne, AUSTRALIA WIN THE SERIES AND TRIUMPH IN SRI LANKA AFTER 2011! Full and slow on the pads. An easy clip off the front foot to the right of mid-wicket for a single to finish the match and the series. It's a clean sweep!
17.3 Dimuth Karunaratne to Marnus Labuschagne, good length ball on leg-stump. Flicked away off the backfoot to deep square-leg for a couple of runs.
17.2 Dimuth Karunaratne to Marnus Labuschagne, good length ball on the pads. Tucked to backward square-leg off the back foot. No run.
17.1 Dimuth Karunaratne to Marnus Labuschagne, over the wicket, length ball on the pads. Swept around to short fine-leg for no run.
Dimuth Karunaratne, right arm off break comes into the attack. Here is some spice for the fans. The man on his 100th and final Test might be bowling the final over of the match.
Australia just moments away from securing their first Test series win in Sri Lanka since 2011. Another good over as Australia try to chase this down.
17
overs
72/1score
0
3
0
1
0
0
runs
Usman Khawaja*
27(44)
Marnus Labuschagne
23(35)
Nishan Peiris
0/34
16.6 Nishan Peiris to Usman Khawaja, full on off-stump. Tucked around off the front foot to short-leg from the inside half of the bat. No run.
Video
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T Head
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Usman Khawaja
*
Nishan Peiris
Galle International Stadium
