LIVE - http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746: 2nd Test: Day-1 – Second Session's Recap
Sri Lanka’s misery continued in the second session, as the islanders piled up 158 runs for the loss of eight wickets before tea on the first day of the ongoing second Test against Australia at Pallekele International Stadium, on Thursday, September 8, 2011.
The home side started off the second session at 76/5 when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 were unbeaten on the wicket at 29 and zero respectively. In the morning session, no Lankan batsmen could resist in front of Australia’s impeccable bowling.
The opening batsmen http://www.senore.com/Cricket/HAPW-Jayawardene-c1529 lost their wickets, adding 17
and 18 runs respectively.
Sangakkara and Mathews consolidated the innings to some extent, keeping the good work going after lunch. Both batsmen kicked off the session cautiously, but subsequently began playing their strokes.
The Lankan http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942 provided the Aussies with the crucial breakthrough, picking up the dangerous Sangakkara when he was looking solid at 48.
After the departure of the former skipper, the succeeding duo, Suraj Randiv and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Seekkuge-Prasanna-c89140, crumbled much like the top-order, earlier in the day.
Randiv became http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RJ-Harris-c2330. Both batsmen collected four and five runs respectively before their dismissals.
Three wickets in quick succession put massive pressure on Mathews but the right-handed batsman did not lose his concentration. At the end of the second session, Mathews was unbeaten at 43 while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ranasinghe-Arachchige-Suranga-Lakmal-c83928 was yet to open his account.
Ryan Harris claimed three wickets while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Trent-Copeland-c2709 and Nathan Lyon grabbed two scalps each. However, the hero of the second session was Hussey who just bowled one over and did the trick for the tourists, sending Sangakkara back to the pavilion.
Although, Mathews is looking good at the crease, it will be very tough for the home side to cross the 200 mark since the Kangaroos are doing a fantastic job with the ball.
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