Australia in Sri Lanka: Mitchell Starc’s late show leaves Sri Lanka on the brink after opening day

New-ball wizard Mitchell Starc struck twice in the shadows of stumps to cement Australia’s ascendency on the first day of the second Test in Galle.

Australia’s greatest-ever off-spinner, Nathan Lyon, led the country’s fleet of tweakers — including debutant all-rounder Cooper Connolly — rolled out on a dry wicket against Sri Lanka.

But the two elder statesmen of the bowling attack did the business.

Lyon took the first three wickets of Sri Lanka’s innings. His only kryptonite was former captain Dinesh Chandimal, who held his nerve amid a flurry of wickets and some chances of his own to reach 74 and bat beyond tea on the opening day.

Starc then took the final two of the day with the second new ball to break a crucial 65-run seventh-wicket partnership between Kusal Mendis and Ramesh Mendis.

Let down by their middle-order again in familiar conditions, Sri Lanka finished the day 9-229.

Pushing to avoid a series whitewash, Sri Lanka undid their good work from the first session as they lost 4-34 on a pitch tipped to only become trickier for the batters.

Sri Lanka went to tea at 5-144 after eating their lunch on 1-87.

Only one wicket away from 550 Test scalps, Lyon needed only 10 minutes to swing momentum in Australia’s favour after lunch.

He bowled around the wicket and snuck past the bat of retiring opener Dimuth Karunaratne (36) to break a 70-run stand with Chandimal.

Fellow veteran Angelo Mathews (1 off 26 balls) never looked comfortable replacing Karunaratne and walked immediately after edging Lyon to Alex Carey.

Within an hour of lunch, Lyon could have become the seventh man to reach 550 Test wickets but Kamindu Mendis successfully reviewed what the umpire thought was an edge.

But Sri Lanka’s best batter of 2024, Kamindu Mendis was no match for Head’s part-time off-spin.

Just days after he was crowned the Allan Border medallist for the first time, Head rocked his trademark sunglasses and was back in peak condition during the session, at the same ground where he took career-best figures on Australia’s 2022 tour.

Kamindu edged Head through to Steve Smith at slip on 13.

Australia’s sole frontline quick Mitchell Starc found plenty of reverse swing in an imperious second session and continued a miserable series for Sri Lanka’s captain.

With the toe of his bat, Dhananjaya De Silva whipped Starc straight to Beau Webster at gully on the first ball he faced, leaving Sri Lanka in all sorts at 5-127.

The big moment arrived when Chandimal was stumped off the bowling of Matthew Kuhnemann, thanks to a sharp bit of glovework by in-form wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

The Sri Lankan No.3 had only just survived an off-spinner from Head that fizzed past his inside edge and only narrowly missed the stumps, while Kamindu Mendis had also successfully overturned a tight caught-behind decision.

Starc’s rampage came with just eight overs to play. He took the wicket of Ramesh Mendis by pushing a ball across him and leaving him in two minds over whether to leave or play.

Mendis went for 28 and Prabath Jayasuriya played a similar shot to be dismissed for a golden duck.

With his snare to dismiss Jayasuria, Steve Smith passed Ricky Ponting for the most catches in Test cricket by an Australian fielder, with 197.

Kuhnemann had a head clash with batter Ramesh Mendis at the non-strikers end as he took off to field a ball. Remarkably, Mendis came off second best and was checked by Sri Lankan doctors, despite wearing a helmet.

Connolly’s Test debut was just his fifth first-class match, becoming Australia’s least experienced debutant since 2011, when Pat Cummins played a Test in his fourth.

Lyon had played just four, the same number as the legendary Shane Warne and just one less than Todd Murphy and close friend Ashton Agar.

Before his first over with the ball, Connolly had a brief chat with Lyon, who memorably took Kumar Sangakarra’s wicket with his first delivery as a Test cricketer at the same ground in 2011.

The left-arm orthodox spinner looked comfortable in his first two overs as a Test cricketer just before lunch, sending down a maiden in his second.

West Aussie Josh Inglis, who made his debut in the previous Test and made a century, spent time off the field with back tightness on Thursday.