πππππ :Β Sri Lanka vs Australia β
ππππ : February 06, Thursday
ππππ : 10:00β AM IST
πππππ : Galle International Cricket Stadium , Galle, Sri Lankaββ
ππππππππππ : 2nd Test 2025
After a gigantic win for Australia in the first Test, Sri Lanka will look to level the two-game series in Galle starting on Thursday.
- Australia are targeting their fourth successive Test victory.
- Sri Lanka come into this game after losing three Tests in a row.
- Australia have won four of the last five Tests between the sides.
Sri Lanka vs Australia
TV channels: The fans can watch the match live on Hotstar
Live Streaming: Live streaming of the match will be available on the FAFA191 Cricket Exchange India and website.
SL vs AUS Match Prediction & Analysis
The first Test of this two-game series is one which Sri Lanka and the home supporters will want to forget in a hurry but the reality is that there could well still be some scarring in the minds of the players in the home dressing room ahead of this Test!
Australia won the toss and never looked back, showing that there is still plenty of value in the old Test cricket saying of ‘bat once, bat big’ as they posted 654/6 declared on their way to a victory by an innings and 242 runs.
TEAMS PREVIEW
Sri Lanka Preview
Totals of 165 and 247 all out are never going to win any side a Test match and so it proved for Sri Lanka who were well short of their best against Australia last week.
Fortunately for the host, there is plenty of experience in their side and nearly all of their batters have fine records to fall back on. But there can be no excuses this time and it is imperative that Dinuth Karunaratne bows out on a high and the new kid on the block of Sri Lanka cricket, Kamindu Mendis, is able to find his form after a poor outing in Galle last week.
The bowlers will also need to raise their levels after struggling and toiling in the field in the first Test. They were put to the sword by the opening pair of Usman Khawaja and Travis Head and never recovered, so if Sri Lanka do find themselves in the field once again on day one then they must have some new ideas to make early inroads.
Australia Preview
Particularly in modern Test cricket and even more so when playing overseas, things rarely go as perfect as they went for Australia in the opening Test of the series! As such, they will know they must maintain their standards across the team in this game when they may not be so fortunate to win the toss and benefit from the best of the conditions.
Usman Khawaja (232), Steve Smith (141) and debutant Josh Inglis (102) all made centuries in Galle last week and the trio will all be desperate to get back in the middle in this game. Not that they are the only capable batters in the line-up as shown by Travis Head who hit aa half-century and was awarded the Allan Border Medal earlier this week due to his incredible cross-format performances over the last 12 months.
Weather Conditions
The forecast is for another warm five days in Galle with the temperature predicted to be over 30 degrees across the entire Test match. There may be some short cloudy periods but no rain is forecast.
SL vs AUS Pitch Report
There is not a great deal of bounce in this wicket and the bowlers really have to work hard for their wickets. Batters with patience will succeed although they may need to take a different approach later in the game when the spinners come into their own.
Toss: To Bat
On a pitch which is likely to be best for batting on across the opening two days before turning a lot more from day three onwards, we expect both captains to be desperate to bat first when they go out for the toss.
