Mitchell Johnson has lauded Australia's pace unit after it reduced Sri Lanka to a paltry first innings score on day one of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
Irresponsible Sri Lankan batting and a quickfire David Warner cameo saw Australia claim first-day bragging rights over the visitors, after the tourists were dismissed for 156 within two sessions.
Johnson (4 for 63) and debutant Jackson Bird (2 for 32) were the main tormenters, while Peter Siddle (2 for 30) and Nathan Lyon (2 for 23) also chipped in.
Australia then reached 3 for 150 following a blitzkrieg 62 off 46 from Warner, with captain Michael Clarke (20 not out) returning from injury and Shane Watson (13 not out) holding the fort at close of play.
Debutant Bird took the early plaudits with an excellent showing in his first spell in Test cricket, taking 1 for 7 in his first five overs.
Johnson was quick to praise Bird's performance and lauded the bowling unit's use of the new ball.
"To get Sri Lanka out within 44 overs was an unbelievable effort," he told Grandstand.
"Obviously Jackson Bird on debut performed very well, got two wickets himself to start us off in the morning.
"I think we bowled really well with the new ball, got those wickets early and we've just got to roll on from there."
After Sri Lanka's early wickets fell, Johnson took control, taking two successive scalps on his way to his 200th Test wicket, before Lyon mopped up the tail with 2 for 23.
He says the bowling performance was even better considering the scrutiny being placed over Cricket Australia's rotation policy.
"To be able to get a wicket early on in a game like this on Boxing Day, it definitely inspired us to keep pushing hard, use that new ball, get it up there and we found we got a few results there," Johnson said.
"Obviously Peter Siddle who's been playing very well performed again today, Nathan Lyon chipped in there as well. So the bowling group did an exceptional job.
"Those personal achievements obviously are great to have and it makes me very happy to be in that 200 [wicket] club now, but the main result out there today was the way we performed and the way we went out there and did it.
"Obviously with guys rotating in and out it can make it a little bit tough at times but we've stuck together as a bowling unit and done an exceptional job."
The one batting highlight for the visitors came with Kumar Sangakkara's 58, which saw him become the joint quickest batsman to surpass 10,000 Test runs.
Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford praised the style of Sangakkara's innings, but rued the fact his side's top scorer could not find anyone with whom to build a partnership.
"I thought he played absolutely superbly, he hit some beautiful strokes and a really fine shot to go to his 10,000 runs," Ford told Grandstand.
"He really led the way, led the fight. Unfortunately he started to run out of partners and maybe played a shot he wouldn't normally play.
"A disappointing day unfortunately, perhaps a few poor decisions by some of our batters which got us into a bit trouble and when you're playing against a quality attack, your decision making has to be pretty precise as to what you're going to attack and what you're going to leave.
"We didn't get that right and unfortunately we find ourselves behind the game by a fair way and we're going to have to fight back hard."
It could have been a different story had Sri Lanka's fielders held on to their chances, dropping Clarke and Watson when both were on 5 near the end of the day.
To make matters worse, wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene injured his thumb when Johnson dismissed him for 24.
"It's a bit too early to tell and I'm still getting the information from the physio, [Prasanna] has had a nasty knock on the thumb and its pretty tender and sore at the moment, but we'll get more information on that during the night," Ford said.
"[The game] could have been a heck of a lot better, I thought at one stage it might get away from us.
"We then bowled pretty well and the lads stuck to it and we got ourselves into the game a little bit, then two crucial chances came - very tough chances - but if they'd stuck, there certainly could have been a real contest on.
"But it's encouraging for us that a few things are happening."
Tags: cricket, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, australia First posted December 26, 2012 19:21:37
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