Starc's ten-for powers Australia towards crushing victory
Sri Lanka subsided again with the bat as they slid to a 366-run defeat before tea on the fourth day
31/01Result
2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of Australia at Canberra, Feb 1-4 2019
-
![Australia]( "Australia")
534/5d & 196/3d -
![Sri Lanka]( "Sri Lanka")
215 & 149 (51 ov)
Player of the Match
31/01Result
2nd Test, Sri Lanka tour of Australia at Canberra, Feb 1-4 2019
-
![Australia]( "Australia")
534/5d & 196/3d -
![Sri Lanka]( "Sri Lanka")
215 & 149 (51 ov)
Player of the Match
Day 4
Tim Paine targets Ashes glory after Sri Lanka sweep
The possible returns of Steven Smith and David Warner have also raised the Australia captain's hopes
Chandimal worried by Sri Lanka's batting as another pace barrage looms
The captain himself failed to deliver in Australia and could only pick out Sri Lanka's slip catching as the single positive from two heavy defeats
Through clouds of overthought and failure, a better Australian team emerges
Equally important as the series sweep over Sri Lanka is that the Australians have earned back some of the respect they had lost
Day 3
Starc's five and Khawaja's ton leave Sri Lanka on the ropes
The visitors were left a target of 516 after two players who had struggled during the summer found form
Starc clears his head and goes whang
In the midst of a summer in which his ability and place in the Australian side has been questioned, Starc has fallen back to a simple approach
Ratnayake confident of Kusal's fitness for second innings
Sri Lanka fast-bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake admitted it was rare to see so many instances of batsmen being hit on the helmet in one match
Kusal Perera forced to retire hurt after bouncer blow
Batting on 27 in the 53rd over, Kusal took his eyes off a Jhye Richardson bouncer, and essentially ducked into it
Khawaja reveals strain of brother's arrest after century
In a summer where he's had to battle injury and some very good bowling, the off-field issues really took a toll on Australia's No. 3
Day 2
Australia strike late blows after Dimuth Karunaratne injury scare
Kurtis Patterson's maiden Test century continued Australia's batting dominance in Canberra
Princely Kurtis Patterson adds steel to his elegance
In the years since his maiden first-class ton, he has always looked bound for Test cricket. But he first needed to learn to get the best out of himself
Dimuth Karunaratne cleared to bat again after being discharged from hospital
The opener was hit by a short delivery from Pat Cummins and stretched off the ground before going to hospital for tests which came back all clear
Day 1
Burns and Head hundreds end Australia's barren spell and flay toothless Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka claimed three early wickets to leave the home side in trouble but their day got steadily worse from there
Canberra's Test dream started with Fingleton scoreboard
Archival material has revealed the dream of Michael Hodgman, the minister for the ACT from 1980 to 1983, to 'see the Ashes played right here in the national capital'
Australia end their century drought
The 308-run partnership between Joe Burns and Travis Head, meanwhile, was Australia's biggest against Sri Lanka for any wicket
Travis Head's maiden Test century a tearful tribute to Phillip Hughes
For Joe Burns, too, it was an emotional occasion as his fourth Test century came after a roller-coaster couple of seasons
Slippery fingers aggravate Sri Lanka's torrid day
After a bright start, the rawness of the visitors' pace attack was exposed on a shoulda-woulda-coulda sorta day on which four catches went down
Australia's last resort Joe Burns makes their first hundred of the summer
Joe Burns' many omissions over the past two years began looking curiouser and curiouser as he strode to his fourth hundred in 16 Tests
Will Pucovski opts out of Australia squad for mental health reasons
The 20-year old batsman is expected to return to cricket for Victoria when the Shield resumes after the end of the Big Bash League in the second half of February
Others
Is Jason Holder the tallest double-centurion in Test cricket?
Also, how many others have made a double-century and taken ten-fors in Tests like Holder?
Tim Paine seeks keys to consistency in wake of rare victory
Stung by memories of a flat performance in Melbourne after levelling the series against India, Australia's captain has told his team to be at their most vigilant against Sri Lanka
Depleted Sri Lanka left hoping for batting-friendly Canberra track
Having had their bowling stocks severely depleted over the past two weeks, Sri Lanka's bowling coach Rumesh Ratnayake hopes the conditions allow batsmen to take some of the pressure off the bowlers
Doubts over Lakmal add to Sri Lanka's headaches
Sri Lanka only have four pace bowlers in their squad and will be keeping their fingers crossed over their senior quick
Pat Cummins, Jason Holder achieve career-best Test rankings
Three West Indies fast bowlers are now in the top 12 of Test rankings, the best since they had four in 1996
Australia hunt Test solace against crisis-hit Sri Lanka
The home side will take in an unchanged XI as they look to end the season with a 2-0 series win against a Sri Lanka battling injury and off-field distractions
