Australia beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets to sweep series

A dominant Australia needed just over three days to secure a convincing nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test, completing a 2-0 series sweep in Galle on Sunday.

This marks Australia’s first Test series win in Sri Lanka since 2011, providing a significant confidence boost ahead of their World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa in June.

Holding a commanding 157-run lead in a spin-heavy contest at the Galle International Stadium, Australia wrapped up Sri Lanka’s second innings for 231 within 25 minutes on the fourth day.

Chasing a modest target of 75, Australia lost opener Travis Head early but comfortably reached the finish line, with Usman Khawaja (27) and Marnus Labuschagne (26) steering them to victory. Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne, playing his 100th Test, bowled the final over of the match.

“We played really well from the outset,” Australia captain Steve Smith remarked after winning the Player-of-the-Series award. “The plans that the batters came with and were able to adapt to the conditions here, it was amazing. And then I thought all our bowlers did a tremendous job.”

“Since coming here in 2016, the guys have developed so many different plans and it’s been great to see a constant improvement,” he added.

Smith’s exceptional 259-run partnership with Alex Carey (156) had earlier powered Australia to 414 in response to Sri Lanka’s first-innings total of 257. Carey, promoted to No. 5 due to Josh Inglis’ back spasm, made the most of his opportunity, earning the Player-of-the-Match award.

Spinners Matthew Kuhnemann (4-63) and Nathan Lyon (4-84) dismantled Sri Lanka’s batting lineup, claiming a combined 30 wickets across the series. Despite fighting half-centuries from Angelo Mathews (76) and Kusal Mendis (50), Sri Lanka failed to challenge the visitors.

With this win, Smith became the first Australian and only the fifth player overall to take 200 outfield catches in Test cricket.

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva admitted his team fell short, saying, “Losing a home series two-nil is very disappointing. The condition was very suitable for us,” “We haven’t had opportunities to get into the game, right from the first game, and Australia proved why they are in the (WTC) final.”

The two teams now shift to Colombo for a two-match ODI series, starting Wednesday.

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