PALLEKELE: Michael Clarke will look to put his first Test series as Australia’s captain beyond Sri Lanka’s reach when the second match opens in Pallekele on Thursday.
The tourists won the first Test on a controversial dusty wicket in Galle by 125 runs last week to take the lead in the three-match series, Australia’s first in Sri Lanka since 2004.
The Sri Lankan board faces sanctions from the International Cricket Council, which said on Monday that match referee Chris Broad had expressed his “concerns over the quality of the pitch” in his report.
Clarke’s predecessor, Ricky Ponting, also began his captaincy stint in Sri Lanka with a 3-0 sweep seven years ago and went on to become Test cricket’s most successful captain with 48 victories.
Australia’s emphatic win at Galle over the lacklustre Sri Lankans suggests a similar whitewash is a distinct possibility, but Clarke was not taking anything for granted.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do,” he said. “We didn’t come here to win one Test match, we’ve come to win three Test matches.”
Clarke has reason to be wary of what lies ahead, especially in the second Test of a series. Australia have lost five second Tests in their last 10 series, winning four and drawing one.
Clarke himself has not made a Test century over 21 innings, but his 23 and 60 at Galle indicated a big knock was round the corner for the stylish right-hander.
Australia return to Pallekele for the second time on the current tour, having lost two Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka there before winning the first one-day international by seven wickets. The Pallekele International Stadium, near the hill city of Kandy, has hosted just one Test, against the West Indies in December, which was rained off without one innings being completed.
The Pallekele wicket is expected to play better than the one in the first Test, although it mattered little to the tourists that the surface in Galle was tailor-made for spin.
The hosts meanwhile will aim to improve their batting which caused them most discomfort in the first test.
Teams (from):
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (Capt.), Tharanga Paranavitana, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene, Angelo Mathews, Suraj Randiv, Suranga Lakmal, Chanaka Welegedara, Lahiru Thirumanne, Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath.
Australia: M Clarke (Capt.), Shane Watson, Philip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Beer, David Warner. (PTI)