On July 1, Friday, Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the opening Test of the two-match series, winning by 10 wickets in the first session of the third day. The Australian spinners' outstanding bowling contributed to Australia's fastest victory in the format in 20 years.
After choosing to bat first and taking advantage of the turn the Galle track gave from Day 1, Sri Lanka bowed down to Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson's spin, who between them took eight wickets in the innings. Niroshan Dickwella, the wicketkeeper-batsman for Sri Lanka, scored a counterattacking fifty to help his team reach 212 in 59 overs.
Cameron Green, an all-around player for Australia, set the tone for the team's innings by scoring 77 runs off 109 balls. Usman Khawaja, batting at the top, also contributed with a performance of 71 runs off 130 balls, and their wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, batting at position seven, hit a quickfire 45 runs off 47 balls. In the first session of Day 3, Australia collected a total of 321, taking a significant lead of 109.
Pathum Nissanka and captain Dimuth Karunaratne got Sri Lanka off to a fast start in the second innings, hitting 17 runs off Mitchell Starc's first over. The procession for Sri Lanka started as Lyon, the off-spinner, came. Karunaratne, who finally finished with the most runs in the innings, was removed for 23 in the sixth over. Travis Head cleaned up the tail, taking four wickets in 2.5 overs, while Lyon and Swepson went on to take four and two wickets, respectively. When Sri Lanka was bowled out for 113 runs in 22.5 overs, a meager target of just five runs was set.
At the end of the session, Australia's openers David Warner and Khawaja entered. Warner smashed four and a six off the final two balls of Ramesh Mendis, which allowed Australia to win the match in just four balls. Green's effort with the bat in the first innings earned him the title of Player of the Match.