Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images
Righto, that’s it from us today. Thanks to Rob for manning the early stint and to you for following along with us. We’ll be back for the second Test in Galle next week. Goodbye!
The Captain’s Speak:
Dhananjaya de Silva:
(On the importance of the toss?) It’s very important. Chasing 600 runs is not easy. The wicket was not that hard but the ball was turning. But the batters have to put their hands up and put the opposition under pressure. Losing hurts always. We had our chances, reviews and catches dropped. We made chances but didn’t take them. We have to put our bodies on the line and play well. They are champion side, they are in the WTC final for a reason, so we have to up our game for the next Test.”
Steve Smith:
I thought we started the Test beautifully, Usman and Travis up top really set the tone. Usman’s innings was outstanding, to get his first double hundred, the way he went about it and the shots he played. The pressure he put on the bowlers was outstanding, and throughout that innings we had plenty of good partnerships. Getting 650 allowed us to bowl twice.
I thought Starcy did a tremendous job with the new ball and the spinners did a great job as well. I thought the bowlers bowled really well in tandem, the beauty of having three frontline spinners is you can just rotate and keep guys as fresh as possible.
(On scoring 10k Test runs) I never thought I’d score this many runs. Playing just one Test for Australia was a dream growing up. To have played over a 100 now and scored 10,000 runs… it’s a dream come true. And it was nice to contribute in this game as well with a hundred.”
