GALLE: Unheralded Australian debutant Nathan Lyon took a stunning 5-34,
including a wicket with his first ball, as Sri Lanka's batsmen
capitulated in the dramatic first Test in Galle on Wednesday.Sixteen
wickets fell on the dusty, deteriorating track during an eventful
second day's play which ended with the tourists enjoying a commanding
lead of 283 runs with four wickets in hand.Seamer Shane
Watson claimed three wickets in 10 balls and another newcomer Trent
Copeland struck in his first over as Australia, restricted to 273 on the
first day, skittled Sri Lanka out for 105 by tea.Coming in
for their second innings the Australians also found runs hard to come
by, collapsing to 115-6 when bad light forced stumps to be drawn.The
tourists lost Watson first ball and former captain Ricky Ponting for
four, before skipper Michael Clarke (60) and Michael Hussey (15) put on
49 for the fourth wicket.Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath
spiced up the contest further when he removed both batsmen in two balls
and dismissed Brad Haddin in his next over as Australia slipped from
110-3 to 112-6.Usman Khawaja was unbeaten on two and
Mitchell Johnson was on three as Australia look to turn the screws on
the hosts when play resumes on Friday.Opener Tharanga Paranavitana's 29 was Sri Lanka's top score as the last seven wickets fell for just 18 runs.Off-spinner
Lyon never looked back after removing Kumar Sangakkara with his first
delivery in Test cricket -- the first Australian in 117 years to achieve
the feat.Brought on after the morning drinks break, the
23-year-old had Sangakkara edging the first ball towards the slips where
Clarke dived to his left to take a low catch.Lyon, who
served on the Adelaide Oval groundstaff until a year ago, then ran
through the tail to justify his much-criticised selection for the tour
after just four first-class matches.He is only the 14th
bowler in history to take a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket,
and the second Australian since Arthur Coningham did it against England
in 1894.Watson then ripped through the middle order,
extracting considerable reverse swing with the old ball to trap Thilan
Samaraweera, Prasanna Jayawardene and Paranavitana leg-before.Copeland,
asked to share the new ball with Ryan Harris ahead of the experienced
Mitchell Johnson, saw his first delivery hit for a boundary before the
second fetched him a wicket.Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne
Dilshan, who had disdainfully smacked the first ball to the cover fence,
attempted a similar shot off the next, but found Ponting standing in
the way.The 36 year-old former captain dived to his right at short cover to snare a brilliant catch.Paranavitana and Samaraweera added 43 for the fourth wicket, before Watson and Lyon swung the Test Australia's way.When
Lyon took a return catch off last man Chanaka Welegedara to claim his
fifth wicket, he had the best figures by an Australian debutant since
Jason Krejza's 8-215 against India in Nagpur in 2008.
