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Jayasuriya takes five as Australia lose 7 for 64 but lead still healthy
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya found venomous bite with the second new ball and dismissed centurions Steven Smith and Alex Carey, but Australia built a first-innings lead of 157 runs as the second Test moved quickly early on day three.
Underlining that the very dry surface in Galle is difficult to bat on, Australia lost 7 for 64 after Smith was caught behind on 131 to end his 254-ball masterclass.
Jayasuriya struggled on day two to threaten and occasionally reverted to a defensive leg-stump line against Smith. But he was a different bowler this morning, with attacking line and lengths bamboozling a slew of batters. Jayasuriya claimed four wickets in the session to finish with 5 for 151 from 38 overs as Australia were bowled out for 414 by lunch.
Sri Lanka’s fightback, however, might have come too late with their struggling batting-order faced with a tough task in their second innings on a deteriorating surface.
Carey and Smith’s magnificent partnership of 259 ended less than 20 minutes into the day’s play. In another batting record for Australia in this series, it was the highest fourth-wicket partnership by a visiting pair in Sri Lanka in Tests, bettering the 258-stand between Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh in Pallekele in 2011.
Australia resumed in a powerful position at 330 for 3, but they knew there was work to do in their bid to only bat once in this match.
After such a limp performance in the backend of day two, Sri Lanka desperately needed a spark and they immediately took the second new ball. Jayasuriya looked to attack Smith from around the wicket and found bite off the surface that he had been unable to find for much of the series.
But Smith seemed revitalised after looking gassed by the end of day two and disrupted the lengths of the spinners by skipping down the pitch.
Carey overtook his highest first-class score of 143 in style with a firm sweep that rocketed to the boundary and he also moved past Adam Gilchrist’s 144 as the highest score by an Australian wicketkeeper in Asia.
Jayasuriya was rewarded for his attacking line and lengths when Smith’s stout defence was finally breached by a brilliant delivery that pitched on off stump and gripped off the surface.
Smith walked off immediately and received a rousing ovation, but his dismissal reinvigorated Sri Lanka and brought a different complexion to the game. Josh Inglis made his way to the crease one spot lower in the batting-order after spending time off the field during Sri Lanka’s first innings because of a back spasm.
After scoring a memorable debut ton in the first Test, Inglis found himself in a tougher position and had a nervous moment first ball when only an inside edge saved him from being plumb lbw. But Inglis’ stumps were rattled on the next delivery when he played back to a full delivery that skidded on.
Jayasuriya was on a roll, but Carey’s presence still loomed large for Sri Lanka and he brought up his 150 as the lead passed 100 runs.
However, Carey on 156 finally succumbed to the sweep, a stroke he had been almost faultless through the innings, when he played over the top of a Jayasuriya delivery and was clean bowled.
All eyes were on 21-year-old debutant Cooper Connolly, who boasted a first-class average of 61.80 from four matches but three of those was at the pace-friendly WACA ground. This was an initiation into Test cricket for Connolly, who was beaten by a sharp offbreak from Nishan Peiris, who was Sri Lanka’s most threatening bowler on day two.
Connolly has proven to be a big-game performer in his fledgling career, backing his aggressive instincts, and he got off the mark in trademark cavalier fashion with a boundary albeit off a top-edge from a full-blooded sweep.
But Connolly didn’t add to his tally and was too ambitious when he skipped down to Peiris only to slice to backward point in an ugly dismissal. Peiris was denied another wicket when Starc was dropped at short leg by Pathum Nissanka before he had scored.
Beau Webster steadied the situation briefly, but had a difficult time. He was trapped lbw by Jayasuriya on 20 only for umpire Joel Wilson to once again have to overturn a decision. He was also dropped by wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis on 25 off Ramesh Mendis as Sri Lanka’s fielding woes continued.
But Webster was soon bowled by a big offbreak from Ramesh as Australia’s tail quickly fell away.
Brief scores: (Day 3 Lunch)
Australia 414 (Alex Carey 156, Steven Smith 131; Prabath Jayasuriya 5-151, ishan Peiris 3-94, Ramesh Mendis 2- 81 ) lead Sri Lanka 257 by 157 runs
The multinational naval exercise AMAN-2025, hosted by the Pakistan Navy for the ninth time, commenced at Pakistan Navy Dockyard in Karachi on 07 Feb 25. The event was attended by Commanding Officer and crew of SLNS Vijayabahu, representing the Sri Lanka Navy.
AMAN-2025 will be held from 07 to 11 Feb in Karachi, and the multinational naval exercise will see the attendance of Navy Chiefs, stakeholders and think tank from maritime fraternity, from 60 nations.
A triangular ODI series is something of a curiosity that belongs in a museum more than it does in 2025. Pakistan last hostedone in 2004, and there have been none in the ODI format anywhere since 2019. When this particular series was announced not long ago, it stood out – it is the only ODI tri series in the current FTP.
Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa will play a truncated version of the classic tri-series, with just one round of matches followed by a final. The schedule was likely squeezed by the SA20 at one end and the Champions Trophy at the other, and it is that upcoming ICC event – the first hosted by Pakistan in nearly three decades – which gives the series context.
While South Africa’s squad is weakened by player commitments at the SA20 and injuries, Pakistan and New Zealand, who take each other on in the opener, have pretty much full-strength sides. Both have named near-identical squads for this series and the Champions Trophy, and had two practice sessions at the rebuilt Gaddafi Stadium, which will officially be inaugurated on Friday, on the eve of the first game.
For each side, it offers the opportunity for precious match practice in conditions where the Champions Trophy will be held in the main (with India’s matches in Dubai). Pakistan and New Zealand will also open the marquee tournament, though that game will take place in Karachi and not Lahore. Both have played exactly nine ODIs each since the end of the 2023 World Cup, and all in very different conditions to this. While Pakistan won each of their three recent ODI series, New Zealand fell short in the one they played in the subcontinent, a 2-0 reversal against Sri Lanka.
However, it’s not as if they are short of match practice in this country. Since December 2022, they have played two Tests, eight ODIs and ten T20Is in Pakistan across four series. On most of those occasions, though, multiple factors meant New Zealand sent in weakened squads, with larger context to build up to. This time, however, there is a multi-team trophy on the line, all while preparing for the second-biggest title in ODI cricket.
It offers the visitors a chance to trial what appears a healthy balance between seam and spin in Pakistan. Captain Mitchell Santner will have Rachin Ravindra, Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips for slow bowling company, while they also have a battery of fast bowlers – no fewer than six – in their tri-series squad.
Pakistan appear to have shown their hand slightly more, with just one full-time spinner alongside Salman Ali Agha, their most plausible part-time spin option. There is a bit of tinkering required at the top, where it appears Fakhar Zaman, back in from the cold, will open with Babar Azam, an experiment the PCB are testing ahead of the Champions Trophy. With this their only game before the deadline to make changes to the squad on February 11, there is more riding on it for them than just the eventual outcome of the contest.
Babar Azam is always in the spotlight, but things are different this time. With Saim Ayub’s injury and Abdullah Shafique’s loss of form, ESPNcricinfo understands Pakistan’s former captain is expected to be called upon to open the batting to provide stability up top. He has, with polarising effect, performed this role in T20 cricket for several years, and more recently stood in as Test opener in Cape Town, scoring a half-century in each innings. In ODIs, however, all but 14 of his innings have come at three, and as he looks to navigate his way out of a difficult run of form, a change of position in his most prolific format will guarantee all eyes on him.
Lockie Ferguson has not played ODI cricket since the tail-end of 2023, but with Pakistan also naming four seamers in their squad, this may be a series where express pace is a factor. Fresh off a respectable showing in the ILT20, where he places among the top-ten wicket-takers, the 33-year-old Ferguson is the oldest fast bowler across all three sides this tri-series, but also the quickest. Against a makeshift Pakistan opening pair and, in Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan, middle-order players more accomplished against spin than high pace, Ferguson’s extra heat presents a locus of vulnerability for Pakistan, and a point of difference for New Zealand.
Ayub, recovering from an ankle injury, is out of the series and the Champions Trophy. Pakistan are expected to open with Fakhar and Babar, with three premier seam bowlers and Abrar Ahmed as lone frontline spinner. The middle order will see some rotation over the series.
Pakistan (likely) Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Tayyab Tahir/Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
New Zealand have two opportunities to work out their best side here before the deadline for the Champions Trophy squads shuts. The conditions would suggest three fast bowlers at a minimum. With all of New Zealand’s spinners also handy batters, balance of the side is not much of an issue.
New Zealand (possible) Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips/Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke
A judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to place 2,200 employees of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave, hours before it was due to happen.
Judge Carl Nichols said he would issue a “very limited” temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by unions, challenging the plan to place thousands of staff on leave from midnight on Friday.
USAID, which is the US government’s main overseas development arm, employs about 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom work overseas. It’s unclear where the remaining staff stand regarding their jobs.
Under Trump’s plan, some 611 employees would have been kept working at the agency. The ruling came as officials removed and covered USAID signs at the organisation’s headquarters in Washington DC.
[BBC]
Jayasuriya takes five as Australia lose 7 for 64 but lead still healthy
Sri Lanka Navy joins commencement of AMAN-2025
Context is king as Pakistan and New Zealand open pre-Champions Trophy tri-series
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