SL vs AUS 1st Test: Australia broke India's record by defeating Sri Lanka

Due to the brilliant bowling of veteran spinners Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann, defending World Test Championship champions Australia registered a big win by an innings and 242 runs against Sri Lanka on Saturday. Defeat for them in a record manner in Test cricket, their biggest defeat ever, previously having been an innings and 239 runs at the hands of India in 2017. After winning the toss and deciding to bat first, the cricket team of Australia scored 654 runs with a brilliant double hundred contribution of Usman Khawaja and centuries of Steve Smith and Josh Inglis and then decided to declare the innings.

Taking full advantage of the spinning track of the subcontinent, the Australian team destroyed the Sri Lankan batting. Dinesh Chandimal alone showed a kind of determination to settle in a crease and amassed 72 runs before getting out at the hands of Lyon. Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Lyon shredded the batting unit of hosts for a mere 165 and thus forced follow-on. Australians did not let go of tight clutch over opponents and sent opening batsmen Oshada Fernando and Dimuth Karunaratne in the first 3.1 overs of the match. Chandimal and Angelo Mathews put on 69 runs for the third wicket but Chandimal fell to Lyon once again. Kamindu Mendis, captain Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kusal Mendis (34) all tried to save the sinking ship but could not survive the Australian spinners for long. Jeffrey Vandersay's 53-run innings towards the end of the match helped avert defeat for a while. After which Kuhnemann took the last wicket of the match by dismissing and Sri Lanka was bowled out for 247.

Smith said in an interview after the match, "We also have some great fast bowlers, three spinners performed well on this wicket. I never thought that I would be able to score so many runs. Playing just one Test for Australia was a dream. Playing 100 Tests and scoring 10,000 runs is like a dream come true."