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‘We let ourselves down a lot’ – Smith
- Updated: July 30, 2016
Australia’s captain Steven Smith ranked a surprise hiding at the hands of Sri Lanka among the most deflating results of his career, after pledging his leadership would be focused upon improving the national team’s record in overseas territory.
The 106-run defeat in little more than three days of actual playing time has put Australia’s No. 1 ranking at risk, being their seventh consecutive loss in Test matches in Asia and first to Sri Lanka in 17 years. Meanwhile a hamstring injury to the left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe means Smith will be relying on the ability of the Victorian spinner Jon Holland to hit the ground running when he links up with the squad in Galle for a match on what is expected to be an even sharper spinning pitch than that seen in Pallekele. A task considered well within the team’s capability ahead of the series now looks exceptionally steep.
Familiar Australian weaknesses against spin bowling were laid bare by Rangana Herath and his wrist-spinning offsider Lakshan Sandakan, as they shared 16 wickets between them. At the same time batsmen like David Warner and Usman Khawaja were put to shame by an extraordinarily composed innings of 176 from the 21-year-old Man of the Match Kusal Mendis. Smith, too, had reason for …
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