GALLE: Two unlikely heroes stepped up for Australia as they handed hosts Sri Lanka their biggest ever Test defeat, and coach Andrew McDonald was impressed by both after a dominant start to the two-Test series.

Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann fractured his thumb last month and McDonald had assumed the bowler would not be available for the match, but the 28-year-old took nine wickets.

McDonald also praised opening batter Usman Khawaja who, at 38, scored a personal-highest 232 in the first innings, setting the stage for the visitors` mammoth victory by an innings and 242 runs.

`I thought he was gone, McDonald said of Kuhnemann.

`But as it progressed and got closer to the test match, he was pretty much a lock three days out. Not sure where we would have ended up, but there was plenty of conversations...

in terms of selecting spinners.

`But Matt solved a lot of those dilemmas, and produced an outstanding performance.

Khawaja`s innings of 232 got Australia off to a strong start on a pitch that increasingly favoured bowlers.

`He`s an important part to the way that we play in subcontinent conditions,` McDonald said of Khawaja. `He`s got options, that reverse sweep that he`s added over the journey.

Khawaja has found a way to remain successful on the international stage.

`He`s been through the ringer here before, and it`s great that he`s been able to come through that, to have a method that is successful, the coach said. `The unquantifiable benefit is the conversations that he`s having with the next generation to get them prepared... we still think he`s got plenty of cricket left in him. And I think he`s been clear on that also.

The second and final test will begin in Galle on Thursday, to be followed by two One-day Internationals in Colombo as Australia prepare for the Champions Trophy, which kicks off Feb. 19.-Reuters