Starc set an incredible record in international cricket. On his birthday, the 35-year-old broke the 700-wicket mark in international cricket by dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne. 376 wickets in red-ball cricket, 244 in ODIs, and 79 in T20Is. The Sydney-born cricketer became only the fourth Australian to enter one of the most exclusive clubs. Only Shane Warne (1001), Glenn McGrath (949), and Brett Lee (718) stand above him in the list.
He also joined Shakib Al Hasan at the second active cricketer to have reached 700 international wickets under his name. Among current India international cricketers, Ravindra Jadeja remains close with 597 international wickets to his name.
Australia did well in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. Usman Khawaja, who had failed to shine in the five-match series against India, back-bounced into a 232-run innings. His opening partner, Travis Head, made 57 runs off 40 balls as Australia had a terrific start at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
Captain Steve Smith also stepped in with the bat. After scoring back-to-back tons against India, he completed the ton against Sri Lanka in the sub-continent. Debutant Josh Inglis also showed he could make his mark in Test cricket. Said to have been at home on spin-friendly surfaces, the 29-year-old made his debut at Galle and did not disappoint. The keeper-batsman went on to score 102 runs on his account and created history for the second fastest century in a Test match debut.
Thanks to big batting performances, Australia declared their first innings at 654/6. The Sri Lankan bowlers really found during the middle of the innings. They were clearly lacking a plan against the quality Australian batters. On the batting front, the home team disappointed as well. They lost three wickets with the score just hitting 30 and they will now need something extraordinary to turn the game around.
