LIVE: SL vs AUS, 2nd Test, Day 1

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Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the second Test at the Pallekele international stadium in Kandy.

Preview

After the forgettable Galle Test the focus now shifts on to Kandy and the onus is squarely on the home side to turn the tables against the resurgent Australia.

Michael Clarke will be a happy man after a thumping win in his first game as captain and would look to continue with the winning momentum.

The Australian side had a superlative performance at Galle on a horrid wicket. The batting, however, was ordinary in comparison to their standards. But a couple of crucial knocks played by Hussey and Clarke respectively proved pivotal in their victory.

Bowling wins you Test matches and the last game was a prime example of it. Debutant Lyon oozed class with the ball and impressed one and all with his spin bowling prowess. The fast bowling department on a whole was not impressive with the new ball, barring Ryan Harris in the second innings, but when it started to reverse they became lethal to handle. The wicket at Pallekele is also spinner-friendly and the Aussies are opting for the same playing XI, of course with one change; Marsh in place of Ponting. Sri Lanka, on the flip side, are still struggling to win a Test match without Muralidaran.

The batting let them down in the first Test match and after conceding a big lead on a turning wicket they were playing catch-up. The pace bowling lacked firepower but the spinners held fort and performed reasonably well. The hosts need a serious brush-up in their batting department and good results will start to follow. The visitors will be favourites heading into this game but to write off Sri Lanka in their own den could be risky.

Sri Lanka: Tharanga Paranavitana, Tillakaratne Dilshan (captain), Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene,Thilan  Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Angelo Mathews, Suranga Lakmal, Suraj Randiv, Chanaka, Seekkuge Prasanna

Australia: Shane Watson, Philip Hughes, Shaun Marsh, Michael Clarke (captain), Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Trent Copeland, Nathan Lyon