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Connolly handed Baggy Green for debut | 00:33
Assistant coach Daniel Vettori admitted the Australians believed the Galle wicket prepared for the second Test would do “a little bit more” when making a big selection call.
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Sri Lanka ended day one at 9-229, having won the toss and deciding to bat on what was predicted to be a dangerous, turning wicket.
That prediction led Australian selectors to drop specialist spinner Todd Murphy in favour of all-rounder Cooper Connolly, who was awarded baggy green No.471 on Thursday.
Connolly is yet to take a First Class wicket, but his batting proved to be the deciding factor in his selection, with Aussies coaches believing depth could be tested in the second Test.
In the end, Connolly bowled only three overs of his left-arm spin, while his counterparts Nathan Lyon and Matt Kuhnemann had ball in hand for 30 each.
MATCH CENTRE: Sri Lanka vs Australia second Test live scorecard
“A pretty good day. I think it’s obviously an attritional day, and I think we probably anticipated it (the pitch) doing a little bit more,” Vettori said to media after day one.
“It’s incredibly dry compared to the first Test wicket, so we thought that it would start to break up. Which it has.
“I think if you go and have a look at the surface now, the footmarks have really come to the fore, and it’ll get dustier and dustier.
“So potentially, thought it’d do a little bit more, but pretty content with the day.”
Vettori also labelled the selectors’ decision to drop Murphy, who took a single wicket in the first Test, an “incredibly tough call”.
“We thought that the number of overs would come down, and maybe batting would come to the fore,” he said.
“So having Coops’ ability to bat down the order, and thinking that is that his left-arm spin was a good option too… (It was) just our interpretation of the wicket that led us to believe that that runs are going to be a premium.”
The second Test between Sri Lanka and Australia will resume on Friday at 3.30pm AEDT.
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TEAMS
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Lahiru Kumara
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann
