Australia's remarkable tour of Sri Lanka 2022 came to an end on Monday with the hosts registering a deserved win in the second Test at Galle International Stadium. After conceding a 190-run innings lead, the visitors tried to sweep away the deficit, literally, but it backfired in the most unexpected manner with unheralded Prabath Jayasuriya doing the trick.
Australia, who won the first Test at the same venue inside three days, were in a dominant position batting first. Former captain Steve Smith scored his 28th Test century while Marnus Labuschagne got his seventh as Australia scored 364. Even then the writing was on the wall. Jayasuriya, the 30-year-old left-arm spinner, got six wickets with his left-arm spin on debut.
Sri Lanka then produced probably their best innings in a long time to post 554 runs with veteran Dinesh Chandimal hitting his maiden double century. His unbeaten 206 held the innings together even as skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (86), Kusal Mendis (85) and Angelo Mathews (52) hit fifties.
Then came the collapse. And at times it looked like the Aussies were in a hurry to catch the flight back home really quick after a month-long tour. Pat Cummins & Co. lost nine wickets in the final session on Day 4 to collapse to their first-ever innings defeat against Sri Lanka.
And triggering the collapse was debutant Jayasuriya, who once again claimed a six-wicket haul for match figures of 12/177. And he got the chance to play the Test only after the Sri Lankan camp was hit by COVID-19 outbreak.
David Warner and Usman Khawaja got the starts, putting on an opening stand of 49 runs. But what followed was a collapse in its ugliest manner. All out for 151 in 41 overs with the highest individual score of 32 from Labuschagne.
This was only the fifth win for Sri Lanka against Australia in 33 Tests. It also meant that Sri Lanka denied the Aussies a 12th Test series win.
But the Aussies were perfect guests in a troubled country, playing their veritable cricket and keeping fans engaged. The tour started with the Aussies winning the first two matches to take the three-match T20Is 2-1.
Sri Lanka took the ODI honours 3-2. And they shared the Test series 1-1. The series is now known as Warne–Muralitharan Trophy.
