Twin tons help Australia avoid unwanted 136-year first

Joe Burns and Travis Head have put an end to Australia’s horror summer with the bat, avoiding an unwanted 136-year first with centuries in Canberra.

After Burns reached his ton before tea, Head followed it up with his first in his eighth Test match.

The opener Burns got off the mark against Sri Lanka with two glorious cover drives that went to the boundary and steadied alongside Head after Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne all fell cheaply.

The 29-year-old was particularly strong off the back foot, pulling all three of the Sri Lankan quicks for boundaries through mid-wicket while still being dominant on the drive through the covers.

Burns’s crowning moment came when he reached his ton off 147 balls with Australia in a commanding position of 3-208 on day one at Manuka Oval.

The century is his first since February 2016 against New Zealand and fourth in his Test career.

Head, meanwhile, reached an emotional maiden ton off 155 balls.

The left-handed South Australian had scored four half-centuries in his career to date, including an 84 in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane.

The last time Australia failed to score a ton in a summer of three Tests or more was 1882-83.

Australia also look set to pass 330 for the first time, having failed to score more than that mark in any of the first five Tests of the summer – a level not matched since 1887-88.

Opener falls playing square again

Marcus Harris’ curse of the wide ball outside off stump has struck again with Australia’s opener caught at point on the drive in the fourth over in Canberra.

Arguably Australia’s best find of the summer with the bat, Harris failed to get a start for just the second time in his six-Test career when he was out to Sri Lankan left-armer Vishwa Fernando for 11 at Manuka Oval.

Crucially though, his dismissal came to a poor ball that was full and very wide of off-stump, only for him to square drive it straight to Chamika Karunaratne low at point.

It marked the fifth time in eight dismissals Harris had been out trying to hit a ball square of the wicket this summer, and came after Australia’s most prolific Test batsman Matthew Hayden urged him this week to play straighter for longer.

“I’ve been really impressed with Harris but I think he plays too square of the wicket for an opening batsman,” Hayden told AAP.

“He needs to straighten his game up and play straight and bat for long periods of time. And be disciplined to the point of ‘I’m not going to play a cut shot until I’m on 120 or 130’.”

Harris was also caught at point trying to cut in Brisbane for 44 against Sri Lanka, bunting the ball to the fielder in the first over of the second day.

In Sydney against India he played onto a ball he was attempting to work through the gully off a spinner, while in Perth one jumped up at him as he shaped to again cut a spinner and in Adelaide he was caught behind trying square drive.

The 26-year-old has still been Australia’s second leading run-scorer this summer, with 313 runs at 34.77.

with AAP