Carey had helped led Australia by 73 runs in this Test after Sri Lanka had set up what appeared to be a competitive total on a dry track. He may have played the series’ most important innings thus far, scoring 139 not out of 156 deliveries. Thus far, he and Smith have amassed 239 runs for the fourth wicket.
This Carey innings was particularly noteworthy for its sweeps and reverse-sweeps, as Sri Lanka constructed aggressive fields to entice Carey to play the latter in particular. 76 of Carey’s runs came square of the wicket, despite playing them nearly faultlessly the whole day.
“The sweeps and reverses have always been my game, but I think it’s about staying patient for longer,” Carey stated. “I believe the field permits me to make those shots at that particular moment. I’m just being a little more astute and am aware of the possible field changes that sweeping may bring about, as well as the risk vs return ratio. I believe that I’m playing it with a little more intention to get down the other end and accomplish other things.”
So far, Carey has spent nearly the whole Test on the field. when taking wickets for more than a day, Carey was elevated to No. 5 when Josh Inglis was out on the field for a significant portion of day one and the first part of day two. This meant that he was batting fewer than 25 overs into Australia’s innings. He only let four byes to go through, though, and has now scored an incredible hundred to help pave the way for a comeback.
“Backing up the bowlers who are creating opportunities – my job in the side is first and foremost to do it behind the stumps,” he stated. “I felt the first inning was rather strong. And it was really rewarding when the guys created opportunities in the last game.
