Australia’s Travis Head leaves the ground after losing his wicket during day two of the second test cricket match between Sri Lanka and Australia in Galle , Sri Lanka, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

For Sri Lanka, day two will be about getting a few bonus runs from the last-wicket partnership, giving a little bit more for their bowlers to defend in the second innings. Having lost in devastating fashion in one of the heaviest losses they have suffered at home, the Lankans will want to sign off on this World Test Championship cycle on a positive note with a result in the second match.

A lot will come down to how their bowling operates in this match compared to the first, where a double century for Usman Khawaja and a pair of centuries for Steven Smith and Josh Inglis pushed Australia well over 600. Sri Lanka won’t want a repeat of that, but on a more bowler-friendly pitch in Galle this time around, and their spinners likely to have more support, the hosts might have a little more confidence.

On the Australian front, scintillating batting form in recent Test matches can only mean that the visitors will want more of the same. Khawaja continued his excellence in Asian conditions, showing that a poor Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign was just a blip as he continues to show his worth to the Australian team as an experienced head at the top of the order. He will have plenty of support from players such as Travis Head, who will go after the new ball, and Smith, who seems to have found something of the form of old.

It will be just as interesting to see what Sri Lanka try and do to stifle the scoring. Australia opened their bowling with spin from one end through Matthew Kuhnemann: is that a tactic that Sri Lanka will look to mimic, particularly to keep Head slightly quieter? There is an expectation that the first innings may well have been the best batting conditions, with the Aussie spinners finding prodigious zip and turn even as early as the second session. Galle could prove to be an absolute minefield, with the likes of Prabath Jayasuriya probably licking their lips at the prospect of tormenting the visiting batters with balls that turn square right from the off.

The key for Sri Lanka will be to ensure that they can expose the inexperienced and relatively raw middle order of the Australian batting early, allowing them to target them with the spinning ball instead of being forced to play defensive cricket against a well-set Travis Head or Steven Smith. Australia do bat deep, but Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, and Cooper Connolly have the experience of three complete Test matches between them: go all-out against the experienced top order, and there will still be plenty of joy for Sri Lanka despite the hammering they received in the first match of this series.