On day one of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle, the hosts were left ruing their non-referral of not just one, but two decisions against them.
The first day of the series saw Australian skipper Steve Smith call the coin toss correctly, and choose to bat first. Travis Head, opening the innings in place of teenager Sam Konstas, made full use of the hard, new, ball – smashing his way to a 35-ball half-century before becoming the first wicket to fall, for 57 off 40 balls.
Marnus Labuschagne was the next to fall, for 20 shortly before lunch. Smith then came out to the middle, and with a single off his first delivery, brought up 10,000 Test runs.
Labuschagne's wicket was as good as things got for Sri Lanka. They were ground into the dirt for the rest of the day as Smith made his way to a 35th Test century in the company of Usman Khawaja, who ended the day on 147 after a spell of rain brought a premature end to the proceedings.
Head, Khawaja survive after Sri Lanka fail to review 'not out' calls
Head stole the show in the first session, and Khawaja for the rest of the day thereafter – but things could have been very different.
Off the final ball of the fifth over of the innings, Head, on 23 at the time, was struck on the pad by seamer Asitha Fernando. There was a unanimous appeal for lbw from both the bowler and the close-in fielders, with Fernando even wheeling off in celebration before a decision had been made.
However, the umpire remained unmoved. After consultation between a few Sri Lankans, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva opted not to review the call, indicating that it had perhaps pitched outside leg stump. However, television replays showed the ball had in fact pitched in line, and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
Had Sri Lanka reviewed, they would have had their man. As it happened, Head went on to score another 34 runs off 26 balls before they dismissed him.
But things were about to get worse for the home side. In the second session, Khawaja played at a delivery outside off stump from left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, and there was a noise as the ball passed his bat on its way to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis. Once again, bowler, keeper, and the close-in fielders went up.
Once again, the verdict was not out, and once again, Sri Lanka did not review. Captain de Silva, this time with a better vantage point from first slip, seemed to be telling his teammates that Khawaja's bat had flicked his pad, and that the batter had not hit the ball.
This time, when the slow-motion replays were broadcast, it turned out that de Silva was partly right – Khawaja had hit his pad, but milliseconds later, the ball had also gone off the edge of his bat.
It was another chance that Sri Lanka were left to rue. Khawaja made another 73 runs after the reprieve; combined with Head's 34, it has cost Sri Lanka 107 runs in all to this point, with the former set to resume batting tomorrow as well.
Image credit: YouTube/@srilankacricket
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