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Day 1: Sri Lanka Face Aussie Wrath

Friday, July 9 2004

On a beautiful sunny day at the picturesque cricket ground in Cairns, the hapless and threadbare Sri Lankan bowling attack was brutally and stylishly exposed at the hands of the powerful Australian batting attack.

Winning the toss was the only thing that the Sri Lankan captain, Marvan Atapattu did right on a day that belonged to Australia completely. The dynamic duo of Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden began solidly as always as the two registered their 50 partnership in just over an hour.

Chaminda Vaas lacked the fire, Malinga was sharp but not very dangerous, and Zoysa lacked accuracy and penetration as the powerhouse Hayden and the gritty Langer took complete advantage of a lacklustre Sri Lankan bowling attack which was minus the world record holder, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Justin Langer registered an aggressive and stylish half century just before the lunch break. After the lunch break, and still no breakthrough's for Sri Lanka as Hayden too brought up a typically destructive Matthew Hayden half century.

From there on the batting of the Australian opening duo was simply sublime. Langer and Hayden maked batting look easy and made the Sri Lankan bowling attack look second rate. From the quick singles to dispatching the bad balls to the boundary, it was a perfectly aggressive opening stand.

The opening partnership reached to 200 and Justin Langer continued on his way to another fantastic century to his name. Hayden soon followed suit as he registered another century, which proved his standing as one of the world's leading batsmen.

With the score at 255, the long awaited breakthrough for Sri Lanka arrived as the off spin of Thilan Samaraweera had Hayden hitting one straight to Jayasuriya, as Hayden was dismissed for 117. The Australian Captain, Ricky Ponting strode out to the crease and alongside Justin Langer continued the mission to post a mammoth first innings total.

Ponting and Langer continued before Sri Lankan fast bowler, Lasith Malinga had Ponting out for 22, as he was caught by Sri Lankan skipper, Marvan Atapattu. Damien Martyn then joined his Western Australian colleague in the middle and the two gave this Sri Lankan attack no respite.

The body language of the Sri Lankan's was poor, the heads were starting to drop. As the day reached a close Langer registered his superb 150. The stylish Damien Martyn punished the Sri Lankan's with a elegant half century as Australia posted 370 runs off the first day's play.

It was clearly Australia on day one, and Sri Lanka will have to fight extremely hard to get back into this match. But with the likes of Lehmann, Katich and Gilchrist to come, an Australian victory seems highly likely already.

Brief Score Summary:

Australia (1st Innings): 2/370 (Langer 159*, Hayden 117, Martyn 56*, Malinga 1/83, Samaraweera 1/55)





Posted by Sangrah