Australia fear rank turner for second Sri Lanka Test

GALLE: Australia are on guard for a spin trap when the second and final Test gets underway in Galle on Thursday despite an unassailable lead in the series.

Steve Smith´s men blew the hosts out of the water in the opening contest, winning by an innings and 242 runs -- the heaviest defeat Sri Lanka has suffered in Test cricket. That game -- also played in Galle -- was on a good batting deck, but the pitch for the second Test looks a different beast altogether.

“This looks like a very dry surface. Dare say it´s going to turn square,” Smith told reporters on Wednesday. “We´re not naming a team just yet. We´ll take a call in the morning once we have a better read on the conditions.”

Despite already bagging the Warne-Murali Trophy and a place in the World Test Championship final secured, Smith has no intention of taking the foot off the pedal and wants a sweep. “I thought we played really well last week, controlling the game from the outset. We didn´t do that last time we were here, so it would be a great achievement to win 2-0,” he said.

Sri Lanka are expected to shuffle the pack for the second Test after the last bruising innings loss. Opening batsman Pathum Nissanka is set to return, having recovered from a groin injury, and will replace Oshada Fernando.

Off-spinner Ramesh Mendis is likely to come back into the XI in place of Nishan Peiris, whose 41 wicketless overs leaked 189 runs in the first Test. “Pathum has been declared fit and he will play. But we haven´t finalised our bowling combination yet,” Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said.

De Silva admitted that Sri Lanka let themselves down with the bat in the opener. “It wasn´t the typical Galle wicket last time around. It was a disappointing Test match because we should have batted much better than that,” he said.

“Too many guys got starts but failed to kick on. We know where things went wrong, and we´re looking to correct those mistakes.” Sri Lanka will also be playing for one of their finest openers, Dimuth Karunaratne, who is set to retire after what will be his 100th Test appearance.

“Dimuth has been a fabulous leader and an exceptional player,” de Silva said. “He has done some amazing things for the team and, without a doubt, ranks as the best opening batter Sri Lanka has ever produced. We want to give him a fitting farewell.”

Squads

Australia: Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.

Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis (wk), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake.