Australia's top opener, Usman Khawaja, scored a brilliant century on Day 1 of the Test match against Sri Lanka. His innings was a perfect blend of attacking and defensive play, showcasing both composure and aggression.

Classic ton

Khawaja reached his 16th Test hundred -- his maiden ton on Sri Lankan soil -- after a 17-match drought since his Ashes century in June 2023.

The 38-year-old had a few heart-in-mouth moments when a couple of edges fell just short of fielders and a reprieve on 74 when he nicked Prabath Jayasuriya to the keeper.

Sri Lanka, however, squandered their chance by failing to review the on-field decision.

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The tourists reached 261-2 at tea after they elected to bat first in Galle at the start of the two-match series.

Smith joins elite list

Australia's stand-in skipper, Steve Smith, completed 10,000 runs in Test cricket during the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday. The right-handed batter became only the 15th player to reach this milestone in Test cricket, according to the ICC official website.

Having missed the chance to reach the mark in his home city of Sydney during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, Smith achieved the five-figure milestone in Australia's first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. He did so by playing his signature flick toward mid-on, running for a single before raising his bat to acknowledge the applause. The moment was met with an ovation from the Australian group.

Smith moved the score to 137/2 with the run, continuing Australia's strong start after the tourists won the toss and elected to bat.

The 35-year-old has accumulated his runs at an average of over 55, with Kumar Sangakkara being the only batter beyond the 10,000-run mark with a better average (57.40). Smith became the fifth-fastest batter, by innings, to reach 10,000 Test runs.

The batter joins Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting as the fourth Australian to reach the milestone.

Right-handed batter Josh Inglis made his debut in the longest format of the game, having been named in the playing XI for the first match of the series. Both teams have chosen three spinners and one seaming option in their line-ups for this match.

Teams:

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando. (With Agency inputs)