Sri Lanka v Australia: second men’s cricket Test, day one – live
Sri Lanka v Australia: second men’s cricket Test, day one – live
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Cooper Connolly will make his Test debut and has been handed his first baggy green cap by Simon Katich as Australia select a fifth red-ball debutant of the summer. Todd Murphy is the player to make way from the XI that was so dominant in the opening Test. Connolly is an exciting middle-order batter and was the third leading run-scorer in the recent BBL season, but it is his left-arm spin that was likely key to the selection in Galle. The 21-year-old is yet to take a wicket in four first-class matches or as many white-ball internationals, but will be out to change all of that in the second Test.
![[Cooper Connolly trains for Australia in Galle]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/13aa60e80e86f3eb18ec3868da474bbb49c4ba2c/0_28_3116_1871/master/3116.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Geoff Lemon has prepared a scene setter for your delectation:. So the second Test depends on Sri Lanka showing up this time and it also depends on what the ground staff deliver. At a guess that is more likely to be a pitch that spins from day one, given the new track already looked ready to play on four days out from the start. It’s not that Sri Lanka showed any aptitude against Australia’s spin, but at least a severely turning track would level out any advantage from the toss. Australia have prepared for those conditions too and, with the run-fest banked, it would be much more entertaining and instructive to see how they combat difficulty.
Hello and welcome to the first day of the second Test match between Sri Lanka and Australia from Galle*. Australia pummelled the home side in the first game, running out winners by an innings and 242 runs to inflict Sri Lanka’s heaviest defeat in their Test history. What to do in response to such a shellacking? The home side seem to be turning to spin to help them get something out of this two match series – by all accounts the surface for this game is drier than the bottom of a parrot’s cage.
The conditions could well see 21-year-old left-arm spinner Cooper Connolly make his Test debut for Australia and we’ll definitely witness the 100th and final Test of Sri Lanka’s 36-year-old opening batter who goes by the full name of Frank Dimuth Madushanka Karunaratne. Play begins at 10am local time, 3.30pm AEDT. I’ll be back shortly with news of the teams and toss. As ever, do get in touch on the email linked at the left hand side of this page if you are tuning in. Your company and comments are always appreciated.
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