Australia vs Sri Lanka 2019: Watch- Lahiru Thirimanne's Controversial Review Decision

Sri Lankan Cricket team batsman Lahiru Thirimanne was at the receiving end of a controversial decision on day three of the first Test against Australia at the Gabba. Meanwhile, Australia defeated the Lankans by an innings and 40 runs to go 1-0 ahead in the series.

The incident took place in the 34th over when Thirimanne was battling alone as the visitors were cruising towards an innings defeat. Pat Cummins bowled a good length delivery which held the line just a bit as it went past the bat of Lahiru Thirimanne. Soon Australia skipper Tim Paine grabbed the ball he along with his teammate started to celebrate as on-field umpire Marais Erasmus raised the finger.

The southpaw soon went for a review and the third umpire Michael Gough first asked for the hot spot and snicko to review the call. Hot spot didn’t give any evidence of an edge but there was a small spike 1-2 frame after the ball went past the bat. As a result, Gough went with the on-field umpire’s call to rule it out.

Watch the video here:

An unsuccessful review from Thirimanne. Thoughts? #SpecsaversCricket #AUSvSL | @SpecsaversAU pic.twitter.com/tpUNsoIhCP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 26, 2019

The controversial dismissal raised speculations among the commentators as it left them in shock.

Thirrimane is gone – caught – but he reviews, and he's given out. #AUSvSL

Fleming: "Snicko was definitely after the bat"

Katich: "I'm stumped"

Samson: "I've never seen that before. The small spike was clearly after the bat."

— SEN 1116 (@1116sen) January 26, 2019

Australia takes 1-0 lead

However, Sri Lanka have capitulated within two sessions on day 3. They started the day being one down but it all went haywire soon. Dinesh Chandimal and Kushal Mendis were sent packing in Pat Cummins’ successive overs. Dhananjaya de Silva was the next victim of Australia’s newly appointed co-vice captain.

During all this Lahiru Thirimanne blocked one end up and found no support from the other as they all kept falling to either good balls or bad shot selections. Jhye Richardson added two more to his three in the first innings, but it was the Cummins show today. He was on the money from ball one and stood up whenever skipper Tim Paine handed him the ball. In the end, he recorded his career-best figures of 10 for 62.

Previously, Australia posted 323 runs in the first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 144 runs. Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head shared a crucial stand to take a 179 runs lead. Sri Lankan batsmen have plenty to do before the second Test in Canberra, starting from 2 February.