Herath becomes second Sri Lankan bowler to perform hat-trick : Aussies crumble to skid than spin – face series defeat

Who would have thought that Sri Lanka would be seven wickets away from laying their hands on the Warne-Muralitharan trophy for the first time since its inception in 2007, seven days after being rolled over for 117 in the first innings of the first Test at Pallekele.

In an extraordinary second day’s play of the second Test at Galle where 21 wickets fell for 314 runs, Australia chasing an imposing target of 413 for victory were struggling at 25 for three wickets still requiring a further 388 runs with seven wickets and three days of the Test remaining.

The most wickets to fall in a day’s play in a Test in Sri Lanka is 22 against England at the SSC in 2001.

The way the Test has panned out so far Australia has a tough task ahead of them to try and save the match and with it the series. They already trail 0-1 after losing the first Test to Sri Lanka at Pallekele by 106 runs and another loss would mean they not only lose the series but their no. 1 Test ranking as well.

The Galle pitch was something that was hard to explain. It was not that it was unplayable but it tested the capabilities of the batsmen against both pace and spin. Otherwise how can one justify spinners Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan taking 12 wickets and Australian pace bowler Mitchell Starc, a match bag of 11 for 94 which is the second best figures by a visiting fast bowler in Sri Lanka after Pakistani Mohammad Asif’s 11/71 at Asgiriya Kandy in 2006. It was also the first time in his 27-Test career he had returned match figures of ten or more wickets.

Australia’s second innings batting followed almost the same pattern as their first with Herath dismissing Joe Burns in the first over for two and Dilruwan Perera following up with the wickets of nightwatchman Nathan Lyon and Usman Khawaja for zeros.

David Warner was unbeaten on 22 with Steve Smith on one not out.

Australia’s captain and vice-captain have a gargantuan task ahead of them to try and win the match and keep the series alive.

Herath became only the second Sri Lankan bowler to perform the hat-trick in Test cricket when he along with fellow spinner Dilruwan Perera bowled Australia out for 106 – their lowest total against Sri Lanka.

The first hour’s play was crucial to both sides as Australia resumed at 54-2 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings of 281 on a difficult pitch for batsmen.

Australia lost the plot when within that crucial hour they lost six wickets for 35 runs off 16.3 overs.

Within a matter of 95 minutes they were all back in the pavilion as Herath and Perera played havoc with their batting. It was not so much the spin that the Aussies were troubled by, but the ball skidding off the surface which they were not accustomed to. It was something that the Australians may not have bargained for during their serious preparations ahead of the series.

As skipper Steve Smith admitted during the pre-Test conference the conditions in Sri Lanka (or rather subcontinent) were alien to his team brought up on pace oriented pitches.

From the manner in which Smith’s men tried to play the two spinners they gave the impression that they had not yet come to terms of how to play spin in the subcontinent. Each batsman may have worked out his own plan of countering the spin but none had mastered it as the events of yesterday unfolded.

The Australian wickets tumbled like nine pins as Perera began the slide by getting Usman Khawaja’s wicket for 11 in the second over of the day and Herath sent back Smith for five with the score stagnant on 59.

Mitch Marsh and Adam Voges carried to score to 80 at which total Herath performed his hat-trick in his seventh over – by first having Voges caught by Karunaratne at extra cover for eight and following it up with the wickets of Peter Nevill and Mitchell Starc – both lbw. Herath was made to wait for a while before celebrating the unique feat when the umpire ruled Starc not out and Sri Lanka subsequently challenged the decision which eventually was given in their favour.

The only other Sri Lankan bowler to perform the hat-trick was fast bowler Nuwan Zoysa against Zimbabwe at Harare in 1999 when he dismissed Trevor Gripper, Murray Goodwin and Neil Johnson with his first three deliveries in the Test, a rare feat yet to be equalled.

David Warner’s 42 remained as Australia’s top score as they put up an abject batting performance against spin on a wicket that was not doing a lot. With a handy first innings lead of 175, Sri Lanka stretched it to beyond 400 when they were dismissed for 237 in their second innings. When Mathews was dismissed for 47 Sri Lanka were 121-6 but Dilruwan Perera who had failed upto yesterday to fulfill his potential as a late order batsman except on one previous occasion came good to score a valuable 64 off 89 balls and raise the total by 112 runs in partnerships with Dhananjaya de Silva (34) and Herath (26).

Sri Lanka were again let down by their opening pair who were both back in the pavilion by the third over. Kaushal Silva fell for two to Josh Hazlewood and Karunaratne (7) was out to Starc for the fourth time in as many innings in the series.

Starc also removed first Test hero Kusal Mendis cheaply for seven and Dinesh Chandimal for 13