Khawaja brings up maiden double-century as Australia cross 450

Australia 475 for 3 (Khawaja 204*, Smith 141, Head 57, Inglis 44*, Vandersay 2-131) vs Sri Lanka

Smith added 37 runs to his overnight tally after a momentous opening day where he became the fourth Australian to reach 10,000 Test runs en route to a 35th century.

The 38-year-old Khawaja celebrated his first Test double century just before lunch as he kneeled down and bowed to the turf as the fans, many of whom are Australians, applauded with gusto.

He had earlier overtaken Justin Langer’s 166 in Colombo in 2004 as the highest score by an Australian in Sri Lanka. Having struggled against spin earlier in his career in South Asia, Khawaja has become only the second Australian after Allan Border to make Test centuries in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Khawaja has wound back the clock after an 18-month Test century drought, having most recently against India struggled at the hands of tormentor Jasprit Bumrah.

Sri Lanka only used their trio of spinners through the first session, but mostly to no avail. They have been unable to stop the flow of runs much like the opening two sessions on day one. Sri Lanka’s tardy performance in the field on the opening day, where they missed several opportunities to dismiss Khawaja and Smith, has proven costly.

Australia resumed on 330 for 2 with play starting 15 minutes early after rain ended day one prematurely. Armed with a second new ball, offspinner Nishan Peiris immediately spun the ball sharply and troubled Khawaja from around the wicket.

The conditions were more challenging than on the opening day as left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya settled into a good rhythm. After resorting to a defensive leg stump tactic late on day one, Jayasuriya attacked the stumps and aimed to skid the ball on.

But he was met by steely defence from Khawaja and Smith, who after four overs had enough and showed his first signs of aggression by skipping down the wicket as the partnership passed 200 runs.

Khawaja soon brought up his 150 before whacking the first boundary of the day with an excellent slog sweep off Peiris. He had unfurled the reverse sweep to good effect on day one, but Khawaja was lucky on his first attempt in the morning’s play when he only just cleared Peiris over short third for a boundary.

Smith started to rediscover his tempo from day one and once again showcased lightning footwork to whack Peiris over cover. He was even more belligerent against Jayasuriya, hammering him over long-on for six as Australia passed 400 runs.

A third straight wicketless session loomed for Sri Lanka until Vandersay deceived Smith with a delivery that straightened down the line and hit him on the back pad. Vandersay’s enthusiastic appeal was initially turned down, but the decision was overturned on review in a massive relief for Sri Lanka.

After waiting almost 100 overs, Inglis finally entered the crease as he chewed gum furiously awaiting his first delivery in Test cricket. He started in fine fashion with a boundary after whipping Vandersay through mid-on and was at ease against spin even though his reverse sweeps picked out fielders.

He showcased his confidence by skipping down the track and launching several blows down the ground. Even though he is brought up on the pace-friendly WACA ground, Inglis is a noted player of spin underlining exactly why the selectors were keen to shoehorn him in the side.

Inglis, the Western Australia wicketkeeper, is playing as a specialist batter and proved he is ready for the Test level having performed strongly in the Sheffield Shield, while he has captained Australia in T20I and ODI cricket recently.

Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth