Australia v Sri Lanka – Sri Lanka tour of Australia (1st Test) – Live Cricket Score and Match Update – Clarke, Hussey lead Australia’s recovery

Early strikes from Sri Lankan seamer Chanaka Welegedara made severe dents in the Australian batting line-up, and the damage was felt most keenly after the dismissal of Phillip Hughes – however, a century stand between skipper Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey put the hosts back in the running, and enabled them to
finish at 299 for 4 by stumps on the opening day of their first Test match against Sri Lanka, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, today on December 14.

Dotted with green patches, the pitch at Hobart did not turn out to be particularly conducive to bowlers, but held plenty of promise for the batsmen – luckily, for the host team, skipper Michael Clarke elected to bat first after winning the toss.

However, it wasn’t smooth sailing from the start. Sri Lanka’s Welegedara (20-1-99-3) – the only bowler from the visitors’ camp who managed to pick up any wickets – made an early dent in the Aussies' line-up, sending opening batsman Ed Cowan back to the pavilion after a 4-run contribution.

Making a return to Test cricket after the retirement of Ricky Ponting (who received a special lunch-time farewell today on Tasmania's home ground), Phillip Hughes drove the earlier part of Australia’s innings with a haphazard but effective 86. His partnership with opener David Warner (57) appeared to be going strong and had yielded 79 runs – however, confused running led to the dismissal of the latter via run out in the 27th over, leaving Australia at 97 for 2.

Coming in at number 4, Shane Watson was expected to thrive on the pitch at the Bellerive Oval, but was eventually unable to convert his start into a decent score, caught out in a sensational manner by Mahela Jayawardene off Welegedara, after a mere 30-run contribution.

Eight over later, Hughes followed him back to the pavilion, bowled by Welegedara, and Australia’s top-order was taken care of. However, the home team was far from finished yet, and the next duo to step up to bat was that of Michael Clarke (70*) and Michael Hussey (37*).

Both formidable middle-order batsmen, Clarke and Hussey have shared the most century-stands in 2012 (4, having accumulated 1187 runs from 13 innings, at an average of 107.90), and have shared nine century-stands in total throughout their careers. In addition, the Aussie skipper has performed outstandingly this year, and is currently the highest run-getter in 2012.

Living up to the expectations raised by their past performances, both batsmen dug their heels in, and set up an as-yet unbeaten 101-run stand for the 5th wicket. Their combined efforts lifted the Australian team up to 299 for 4 by stumps on day one, and served as a positive promise of things to come.