Key events
The sun is beaming down in Galle, the tv footage cuts to a drone hovering along a beautiful coastline complete with shimmering sea and lightly puttering flags on top of the fort. Wish you were here? Yeh probably, although I’ve got clanking radiators and a light trickle of condensation inside my windows, so you know, feeling blessed too.
Dedication’s what you need…
Here’s Alex Carey, after having batted for most of yesterday & still unbeaten on 139, the first man out as always to go through his 40-minute wicket-keeping drills. Speak of discipline & dedication #SLvAus pic.twitter.com/oo79dB8Ja2
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 8, 2025
We’re about ten minutes away from the start of play on day three, just enough time to catch up on yesterday’s action:
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to day three of the second Test from Galle. ‘Moving Day’ is what they often call the third day’s play of a Test match and we might well see plenty of moving and shaking over the coming hours.
Australia are firmly in command in the match and series – sublime centuries from Steve Smith and Alex Carey on day two saw the visitors finish with a lead of 73 runs with seven wickets still in hand.
Coming together at 91 for 3, Smith and Carey put on a masterclass of batting in sub-continent conditions, using every ounce of patience, skill and stamina to rack up 239 runs and counting. Movement you say? What movement? Well, if a breakthrough does come then there’s still plenty in this pitch to give the spinners hope, it’s also a tough one to get started on. I have a sneaking feeling the game could go into hyperdrive if the wickets start to tumble.
Play begins at 10am local time, 3.30pm AEDT and an eye-bag cultivating 4.30am here in the UK. Join us!
