Australia have registered a remarkable triumph over Sri Lanka in the opening Test played at the Galle International Stadium. Riding on the heroics from Usman Khawaja and Matthew Kuhnemann, the Aussies handed an innings and 242-run defeat to the hosts in their backyard. The scintillating victory is the Aussie side’s biggest success on the Asian soil while for Sri Lanka, the loss is their biggest in the Test history. The win is also the Aussie team’s fourth biggest in the longest form of the sport.

Day 4 of the Test began with Sri Lanka following on the vast score of 654. After dismissing Sri Lanka on 165 in the first innings, the Aussie bowlers were looking to continue their dominance over the hosts and Mitchell Starc delivered the first wicket in the third over of the day, dismissing Oshada Fernando at his individual score of six. Following his opening partner Oshada, Dimuth Karunaratne also returned to the pavilion in the next over after getting cleaned up by Matthew Kuhnemann.

Khawaja’s double ton and Kuhnemann’s fifer outplay the hosts in the first innings 

Veterans Dinesh Chadimal and Angelo Mathews strove to stabilise Sri Lanka’s innings but couldn’t get success as Nathan Lyon got the former caught at the hands of Travis Head. In the crunch situation, Sri Lanka failed to hold their nerves which led to the fall of wickets at regular intervals. Eventually, the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side got bundled out at a score of 247, with Mathews the highest scorer for them in the innings racking up 41 off 59. Nathan Lyon and Kuhnemann grabbed four wickets respectively in the innings

Earlier in the first innings, Usman Khawaja hit his maiden double Test ton to help the Aussies shatter Sri Lanka’s confidence. Supporting the southpaw, Steven Smith and Josh Inglis also hit centuries which helped the Pat cummins-led team to put up 654 runs on the board. Replying to Australia’s vast score, Sri Lanka failed to tackle spinners Lyon and Kuhnemann. Lyon claimed a three-wicket haul while Kuhnemann clinched his maiden Test fifer and played an essential role in dismissing Sri Lanka for only 165. Khawaja became the recipient of the Player of the Match award for his extraordinary knock of 232 off 352 deliveries. His majestic innings was studded with 17 boundaries (16 fours and a six).