Form, history against brittle Sri Lanka

Match facts

July 26-30, 2016 Start time 10.00 local (04.30 GMT)

Big Picture

Once upon a time, Sri Lanka beat Australia in a Test series. Like most fairy tales, it was a little bit gruesome – Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie met grisly fates during Sri Lanka’s win in the first Test – and somewhat miraculous – persistent rain in the second and third Tests ensured draws that gave Sri Lanka a 1-0 victory. In the coming years, their achievement took on even more mythic proportions. Immediately following that series in 1999, Australia won a world-record 16 consecutive Tests. For a good couple of years, Sri Lanka were the last of the giant-killers.

Yet the happy ending of that tour was just that – an ending. Never again have Sri Lanka beaten Australia in a Test, let alone a series. They lost 0-3 at home in 2004 despite the presence of champions such as Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas and Sanath Jayasuriya. In 2011, Sangakkara and Jayawardene were still there and Australia were ripe for plucking; having suffered an Ashes debacle at home, Australia had slipped to fifth on the Test rankings, below the fourth-placed Sri Lanka. But still Australia emerged with a series win.

Now, the last of those legends have faded into retirement, and everything seems stacked against Sri Lanka. Australia are back on top of the Test rankings, Sri Lanka have slipped to seventh. Australia have more or less a full-strength squad; Sri Lanka have several bowlers injured. Even Muralitharan, he of 800 Test wickets, has changed camps and is coaching the Australians on this tour. But there is one solitary link back to that 1999 triumph – that was the series in which Rangana Herath made his Test debut, and Sri Lanka’s hopes rest largely on his stocky shoulders this time.

Australia are yet to lose a Test under Steven Smith’s captaincy, and he will be desperate to ensure that continues on his first tour of Asia as skipper. He will have his strike weapon Mitchell Starc back after a long injury lay-off, and a twin spin attack likely at his disposal. Smith himself is the No.1-ranked Test batsman in the world and his fit-again vice-captain David Warner is eighth. And that’s without even mentioning the bloke averaging 95.50. If Sri Lanka want another fairy tale, they’ll need a touch of the miraculous once again.

Form guide

Sri Lanka: DLLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
 Australia: WWDWW

In the spotlight

To overcome Australia, the Sri Lankans may just need something special from a one-man band. Fortunately, they have the Mike Oldfield of cricket. In the past five years, no Test player has accumulated more five-wicket hauls or ten-wicket matches than Rangana Herath. And only one man – Stuart Broad – has equalled him for Man-of-the-Match awards in that time. At home, Herath is an ever-present threat, and no player is more important to Sri Lanka’s chances in this series. There is no Dhammika Prasad, no Dushmantha Chameera, no Shaminda Eranga. But while Herath remains, Sri Lanka can dream.

Last time Australia played a Test series in Sri Lanka, Nathan Lyon was as green as the Adelaide Oval outfield, on which he had not long finished working as a groundsman. He began the tour with five first-class matches to his name and was thrust in at Galle as the latest in a long line of spinners …

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