The Sri Lankans had looked to be holding on for a draw until Siddle and Starc struck to turn the match around. Starc claimed the last four wickets to end with five for 63, while Siddle was named man of the match after his four for 50 gave him nine wickets for the match.
Australia found it hard going to gouge out the batsmen on a fifth-day pitch until the wickets tumbled in the final two hours.
“We knew we had to be patient, ” said captain Michael Clarke. “ I was confident that if we could bowl in the right area for a long period of time that we would have success. It was going to be a day’s work to get so many good batsmen out, but take nothing away from the bowlers. They had to execute their plans and their skills. Reverse swing was always going to be vital in this game and we’ve got three of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world in Siddle, Shane Watson and Starc.”
Australia got the wicket of captain Mahela Jayawardene before lunch, K u m a r Sangakkara in the middle session and the remaining six wickets in the final session after the tourists had appeared headed for a morale- boosting draw.
“ D i s a p p o i n t e d that we lost the game, ” said Jayawardene. “It was a tough Test match in the sense that we were chasing the game probably after the third or fourth day but we kept fighting, especially in the first-innings. We knew we had to bat through a couple of sessions sensibly, see what happens, and up until tea we were on target. And then two wickets after tea and that’s when things probably went in the other direction.”
The Australians earlier removed key batsmen Jayawardene (19) and Sangakkara (63) but for a time were hitting a brick wall in their attempts to make further inroads. Jayawardene had resisted for 77 balls for his 19 and stubbornly put on 65 runs for the third wicket with Sangakkara off 193 balls. At one stage Clarke even brought wicketkeeper Matthew Wade into the attack, with his lively medium pace utilised for a maiden final over before the tea adjournment.
Sri Lanka have yet to win in Australia in 11 Tests.
Clarke heaps praise on Siddle
It was a glowing tribute that Clarke paid to Siddle for his match-winning performance.
“If everyone’s got the heart that Siddle has, we’ll get back to being number one in the world, no doubt, ” said Clarke. “He continues to lead our attack. I think he has done so for a while now and he loves the opportunity to be our number one strike bowler. He really looks forward to the pressure situation. He doesn’t care if he opens the bowling, or bowls first change. It’s about helping the team have success.”
Siddle cleared by the ICC
ICC match referee Chris Broad said he found no evidence of Australian ball-tampering during the first Test.
Sri Lanka’s team management had expressed concern at television match footage which it believed showed Siddle tampering with the ball during the Sri Lankan first-innings.
“The umpires frequently inspect the ball during play, and did so again after they had reviewed the video footage in question on Sunday,” said Broad in a statement. “In their opinion, there was no evidence to suggest that the condition of the ball was changed, or that the video or photographic evidence would support a charge under the Code of Conduct, so they will not be laying any charges relating to these incidents.”
M Clarke
“We knew reverse swing was always going to be vital in this game and we have got three of the best reverse swing bowlers in the world in Sids (Siddle), Shane (Watson) and Starcy (Starc).”
M Jayawardene
“We’re disappointed that we lost the game. It was always going to be tough in the sense that we were chasing the game probably after the third or fourth day but we kept fighting, especially in the first-innings.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2012.
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