The Australian cricket team toured Sri Lanka from 6 August to 20 September 2011. The tour consisted of two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), five One Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Tests played for Warne–Muralitharan Trophy. Four uncapped players had been named in the Australian Test squad, namely Shaun Marsh, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon. Lyon had only made four first-class appearances and was previously one of the groundstaff at the Adelaide Oval.
During the test series, a five-year old kid going by the name Sharujan Shanmuganathan caught the attention of viewers when his free-flowing, elegant cover drive became a talking point as it was captured by one of the camera operators during the course of the test match. Sharujan was only five-years-old when he received recognition for playing cover drives, and commentator Tony Greig, who was named as one of the commentators for the test match, reportedly spotted him playing at the grass bank of the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground. Tony Greig eventually nicknamed him "Little Sanga" during the air while doing commentary, and Greig later went on to interview the five-year-old Sharujan, which became an instant hit on television.
Squads TestsODIsT20Is Tillakaratne Dilshan (c) Mahela Jayawardene Rangana Herath Prasanna Jayawardene (wk) Shaminda Eranga Suraj Randiv Suranga Lakmal Angelo Mathews Ajantha Mendis Tharanga Paranavitana Dhammika Prasad Seekkuge Prasanna Thilan Samaraweera Kumar Sangakkara Lahiru Thirimanne Chanaka Welegedara Michael Clarke (c) Shane Watson (vc) Michael Beer Brad Haddin (wk) Trent Copeland Ryan Harris Phillip Hughes Michael Hussey Mitchell Johnson Usman Khawaja Nathan Lyon Shaun Marsh James Pattinson Ricky Ponting Peter Siddle Tillakaratne Dilshan (c) Angelo Mathews (vc) Dinesh Chandimal Kumar Sangakkara (wk) Rangana Herath Mahela Jayawardene Suraj Randiv Nuwan Kulasekara Suranga Lakmal Ajantha Mendis Jeevan Mendis Chamara Silva Thisara Perera Lasith Malinga Shaminda Eranga Upul Tharanga Seekkuge Prasanna Michael Clarke (c) Doug Bollinger Xavier Doherty Brad Haddin (wk) John Hastings David Hussey Michael Hussey Shaun Marsh James Pattinson Ricky Ponting Steven Smith Shane Watson Tillakaratne Dilshan (c) Angelo Mathews (vc) Chamara Silva Kumar Sangakkara (wk) Dhammika Prasad Dilruwan Perera Ajantha Mendis Nuwan Kulasekara Mahela Jayawardene Shaminda Eranga Dinesh Chandimal Rangana Herath Suraj Randiv Suranga Lakmal Jeevan Mendis Thisara Perera Cameron White (c) Aaron Finch Brad Haddin (wk) John Hastings David Hussey Mitchell Johnson Brett Lee Shaun Marsh Steve O'Keefe James Pattinson Steven Smith David Warner Shane Watson
Tour matches
First-class: SL Board XI vs Australians
T20I series
1st T20I
2nd T20I
ODI series
1st ODI
2nd ODI
3rd ODI
4th ODI
5th ODI
Test series (Warne–Muralitharan Trophy)
1st Test
On the 2nd day of the test, Nathan Lyon took his first wicket in tests with his first ball, his victim was Kumar Sangakkara; he is the 14th international player and 2nd Australian to do so. He finished with figures of 5/34, becoming the 131st player to take five wickets on debut in a Test match. Also, Trent Copeland took his first wicket in tests with his second ball; his victim was Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Australia lead the series 1–0
2nd Test
Ricky Ponting missed this test. Ponting's wife, Rianna, gave birth to the couple's second child, and he returned to Australia to witness the event. As a result, Shaun Marsh made his debut and he scored 141 off 315 balls.Ricky Ponting to miss second Test ESPN Cricinfo
Australia lead the series 1–0
3rd Test
On the first day Shaminda Eranga got his first wicket in tests with his first ball (repeating Nathan Lyon's feat in the 1st test); his victim was Shane Watson. Also on the first day Shaun Marsh achieved an average of 222 before he got out, the highest ever by an Australian. Michael Hussey was Man of the Match for all three test matches and was awarded Man of the Series.
Australia won the series 1-0
References