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Video Highlights: Sri Lanka vs Australia, Day 1, 1st Test: Hosts lose 3 wickets in quick succession

Josh Hazlewood took two wickets and Mitchell Starc got one as the bowling duo combined to restrict the hosts to 18 for 3.

Having won the toss, Sri Lanka decided to bat against Australia in the first Test at Pallekele. The young and inexperienced Lankan batting succumbed against the strong Aussie pace attack. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood combined to restrict the hosts to 18 for 3. Dimuth Karunaratne was the first to go, trapped lbw of Starc’s bowling. Soon, Hazlewood followed his bowling partner by scalping two wickets in no time. First, he removed Kusal Mendis for 8, before dismissing Kaushal Silva for 4. After the early blitz, skipper Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal came at the crease, and weathered the storm for a brief period. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test at Pallakele

The home side were hoping the experienced duo will take Sri Lanka out of trouble, but their 25-run partnership came to a end when spinner Stephen O’Keefe dismissed the Sri Lankan skipper for 15. Another brief partnership followed between Chandimal and debutant Dhananjaya de Silva. But just like earlier, it did not last long, as Hazlewood dismissed Chandimal for 15, with score at 67 for 5.

After that, the spinners took centre stage. The final five wickets fell for a meagre 50 runs. Nathan Lyon romped past the lower-order, scalping 3 for 12 in his three overs. O’Keefe and Starc grabbed one each as the visitors bowled out the hosts for 117.

The Australian innings started on the same page as that of Sri Lanka. David Warner was dismissed for a duck by Nuwan Pradeep, before Rangana Herath dismissed Joe Burns for 3. But the home team found no joy for the remainder of the day, as Australian skipper Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja stood tall, and with a bit help from rain, made sure no wickets fell.

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