Late blow casts shadow over bright day

The frightening blow to the base of the skull that saw Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne stretchered from the field and rushed to hospital cast a pall over day two of Canberra's maiden Test match.

In scenes that clearly haunted Australia's bowlers and fielders, and left the near-full house at Manuka Oval shocked into silence, Karunaratne lay prone at the crease and was tended by medical officers for almost 10 minutes before lifted on to a medi-cab emergency vehicle.

The sombre mood that fell across the ground provided an eerie contrast to the celebrations launched earlier in the day as Kurtis Patterson, in his second Test match, posted his maiden century and remained unbeaten on 114 when Tim Paine (45no) closed Australia's innings mid-way through the day.

But the joy of Patterson's achievement and the position of strength into which it placed his team was dulled by the subsequent sight of Karunaratne having his protective gear removed from him before being carefully lifted from pitch's edge on to a stretcher.

The 30-year-old had lay where he fell after being struck by a Pat Cummins' bouncer - that appeared to hit the left-hander near his right shoulder blade and neck as he took belated evasive action - until transported from the field.

He was seen to be conscious and flexing his fingers as Cricket Australia doctor Richard Saw and other medical officers tended to him.

Australia captain Paine checked on the stricken opponent's condition and relayed news to his players who gathered at the far end of the pitch.

As Karunaratne was placed into an ambulance and taken to hospital, it is understood his father and sister followed the emergency vehicle by car.

Preliminary reports indicated he had complained of pain in his neck and a tingling sensation in his hands after being struck, and although he had not lost consciousness it was decided he should be taken immediately to hospital to undergo more detailed assessment.

The incident immediately shaped the mood and the course of a day that had been summarily dominated by the bat, and largely played to the upbeat tune of the horn-blowing band of Sri Lanka supporters who gathered at the new Test venue's southern end.

Although the band played on throughout the drama and the hour's play that followed, a palpable sense of disquiet settled over Manuka Oval, heightened by the memory of events from four summers earlier that continue to cast a darkness across the game's soul.

In the immediate aftermath of Karunaratne's injury, the concentration of Sri Lanka's batters seemed understandably affected and three wickets fell within 10 overs of the incident.

Up until that moment, the tourists had scarcely looked ill at ease on the flat Canberra pitch, even with Australia spearhead Mitchell Starc recording bowling speeds of around 154kph, previously unseen throughout the summer.

Karunaratne and his opening partner Lahiru Thirimanne had cruised, unperturbed, to 0-77 in reply to Australia's 5(dec)-534 with an hour's play remaining, and lifted that total to 82 when Karunaratne was hit.

The delivery from Cummins came from around the wicket, and was angled in towards the left-hander who shaped to duck underneath the ball before realising it was coming at him, prompting a last-moment reflex action to turn his head.

Just eight deliveries later, Thirimanne edged a straightforward catch from spinner Nathan Lyon to slip, having clubbed two boundaries earlier in the same over.

Thirimanne had earlier felt the sting of Australia's fast-bowling attack, rapped on the fingers by a short ball from Jhye Richardson that saw him receive treatment from Sri Lanka's medical staff before he continued his innings.

Throughout the afternoon, Paine was also seen to be struggling with what appeared to be a gastric upset although an equal measure of discomfort came in the first two hours of his team's bowling innings as his bowlers battled to make inroads.

The huge score Australia posted was put into immediate context as Starc's thunderbolts were whipped away by Sri Lanka's openers, and the swing that the visitors' bowlers had achieved with the new ball under thick cloud yesterday vanished amid the bright Saturday afternoon sunshine.

It was only in the wake of Karunaratne's injury that Australia's quicks were able to assert an influence.

Sri Lanka's most accomplished batter Kusal Mendis posted another failure when he played a Cummins' delivery that held its line sufficiently to take off-stump.

And then skipper Dinesh Chandimal, who had walked to the crease as his stricken teammate was being lifted on to the mini-ambulance, failed to keep his gloves away from a soaring Starc bouncer and was caught by Paine for 15.

By day's end, Australia's initially daunting lead had been trimmed to a not-insubstantial 411 with seven Sri Lanka first innings wickets remaining, and no immediate word on whether Karunaratne would be able to resume batting.

Prior to play resuming under another blanket cover of cloud in the morning, Australia batting coach Graeme Hick indicated in a radio interview that Paine would consider declaring at tea if the total was nudging around 550.

It seemed a potentially boastful prediction when the previous day's century maker Joe Burns fell to a self-inflicted wound, having added eight to his overnight tally of 172.

Burns was visibly upset with himself after he attempted to glide Sri Lanka seamer Kasun Rajitha to third man only for the ball to catch the bottom of the opener's angled bat and deflect to his leg stump.

It's doubtful that any Test batter has looked quite so disconsolate upon leaving the field with a career-high score alongside his name, but Burns clearly felt he had left behind the prospect of a double-hundred and more as a result of his lapse.

An assessment that proved spot-on as Patterson and Paine settled in on the flat pitch against some unthreatening bowling to push Australia past 500.

Patterson's maiden Test half-century arrived neatly from 100 balls, when he tucked debutant seamer Chamika Karunaratne to deep square leg.

Having missed the chance that the left-hander had offered to Thirimanne at short-leg from the first delivery he faced on Friday evening, Sri Lanka's frustration was complete when the 25-year-old posted his ton shortly after lunch.

The surety of stroke play, the crispness with which he punched the ball square of the wicket and through the covers from a limited back lift, and his capacity to stand tall and hook short balls with little worry brought numerous comparisons.

Perhaps none was more flattering than that from former England captain Michael Vaughan who likened the left-hander in his second Test innings to his country's all-time leading runs scorer, Sir Alastair Cook.

If Patterson can find even half the 12,472 runs that Cook compiled from 161 Tests then he will have etched his name among Australia's long list of Test greats.

Australia XI: Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Kurtis Patterson, Tim Paine (c/wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon

Sri Lanka XI: Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dinesh Chandimal (c), Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Chamika Karunaratne, Vishwa Fernando, Kasun Rajitha

Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka

Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Chamika Karunaratne, Vishwa Fernando

First Test: Australia won by an innings and 40 runs

Second Test: February 1-5, Canberra