Cricket-Cummins and Starc restrict Sri Lanka to 68-2 in Galle

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Australia skipper Pat Cummins and fellow seamer Mitchell Starc helped restrict Sri Lanka to 68 for two at lunch on day one of the opening test in Galle on Wednesday.

Spinners Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson were able to generate significant turn and Sri Lanka's spin-heavy attack will be licking their lips at the thought of the pitch deteriorating further as the match goes on.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne is on 25 and veteran Angelo Mathews on 15 after Sri Lanka opted to bat first.

Pathum Nissanka (23) and Karunaratne added 38 runs for the opening stand, with both looking largely unperturbed against the Australian attack.

Off-spinner Lyon was introduced within the first 30 minutes and his first delivery turned sharply, offering a glimpse into what the batsmen could expect in the next four days.

Cummins broke the stand after changing ends after inducing an edge from Nissanka.

Alex Carey took his second catch behind the stumps when Kusal Mendis nicked Starc trying to hit through extra cover.

The closest Lyon came to success was when Karunaratne pushed at a delivery straight into the body of Marnus Labuschagne at silly point but he could not take the sharp chance.

Starc (finger) and Travis Head (hamstring) were passed fit to play the first match of the two-test series.

Leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay made his test debut for Sri Lanka, who opted for three specialist spinners along with the part-time off-spin of Dhananjaya de Silva.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)