Key events
35th over: Australia 128-3 (Smith 42, Carey 22) Smith quickly picks up the flight of the ball and with a flick of the wrists turns it to midwicket for a single. Carey puts the sweep away for the rest of the over but adds one more with a straight drive. The Australian pair are scoring from a limited range of shots, but it is proving highly effective.
34th over: Australia 126-3 (Smith 41, Carey 21) Carey gets down on one knee again but rather than sweeping he gets to the ball on the fall and guides it fine to avoid the fielder and reach the boundary. He really is punishing anything overpitched, which Sri Lanka have mostly avoided offering to him until the last two overs.
33rd over: Australia 122-3 (Smith 41, Carey 17) Dhananjaya returns for the first time since the break. No surprise that a comment on Sri Lanka keeping the run-rate down has been followed by a boundary. Even less of a shock that it has come off a sweep from Carey. Long-off seems to be the spot for singles, with three of them taken from the over.
32nd over: Australia 115-3 (Smith 40, Carey 11) The Sri Lanka spinners are doing their best to contain Australia’s flow of runs since lunch but Smith and Carey remain comfortable working anything slightly off line away if only to turn over the strike. Two from the over.
Steve Smith is looking increasingly comfortable in the middle in Galle but Rowan Sweeney has spotted some Sri Lanka players trying to get under his collar.
I’m loving the apparently premeditated attempt to troll Steve Smith. Stuart Broad-tier stuff.
31st over: Australia 113-3 (Smith 39, Carey 10) An unusually looser over from Peiris as he drifts down the leg-side a few times. Carey picks him off for a single to midwicket then Smith ends the over with one more in the same region.
30th over: Australia 111-3 (Smith 38, Carey 9) A fruitful over for Australia as Smith finishes it with a rare reverse sweep that races away for four. Surely the batting mastermind isn’t getting a little bored out there facing over after over of spin? Or maybe he’s just taking inspiration from Carey, who started the over with two runs off his own sweep shot.
29th over: Australia 104-3 (Smith 34, Carey 6) Peiris turns to a much fuller length but Smith and Carey are up to the task, with three singles to long-off between them before Carey mis-times a drive but picks up one more at point.
28th over: Australia 100-3 (Smith 32, Carey 4) Ramesh Mendis into the attack as Australia reach triple figures when Smith nudges off his hip for a couple behind the wicket, then adds a single through midwicket. Smith is looking especially comfortable when working the ball onto the leg-side.
27th over: Australia 97-3 (Smith 29, Carey 4) No sweep shots off Nishan Peiris as he continues to pitch the ball back of a length. But both batters find a single with a straight drive.
26th over: Australia 95-3 (Smith 28, Carey 3) Smith begins the over with a flick of the wrists as he drives to deep cover for a single. Carey is soon off the mark from his familiar position of being down on one knee and sweeping, firstly for two with a traditional stroke, then a single from a reverse sweep. A reminder that Carey has jumped up the order with Inglis forced to wait after spending time off the field with back spasms.
Josh Inglis is in his whites and has been to the nets with the Australia coaching staff for a quick batting session as he nears the time when he is allowed to take to the crease after spending a long period of time off the field during Sri Lanka’s first innings.
WICKET! Khawaja lbw b Peiris 36 (Australia 91-3)
Nishan Peiris drops short and entices Khawaja to pull as the ball skids through and slams into his back pad. No doubt about that hitting in line but did it straight up or head down leg? Khawaja asks the DRS for a second opinion but the review shows the ball was tracking into leg-stump.
25th over: Australia 91-3 (Smith 27, Carey 0)
24th over: Australia 90-2 (Khawaja 36, Smith 26) Smith takes a couple of long steps down the pitch and cracks a straight drive past Jayasuriya and … into Khawaja’s foot. That was heading to the rope but the Australian pair are only able to run one with their opener hobbling alongside the wicket. He walks it off and continues batting.
23nd over: Australia 87-2 (Khawaja 34, Smith 23) Smith steps onto his back foot and is deep in his crease when he is too slow getting his bat down to the ball as it stays low and crashes into his pad. The umpire raises the finger but Smith immediately sends it upstairs and replays show it has hit him outside the line. That could be seen as a life for the Australian skipper, but more likely he knew the whereabouts of his off-stump. Khawaja and Smith bookend the over with a single each to long-off.
22nd over: Australia 85-2 (Khawaja 34, Smith 23) Prabath Jayasuriya begins the session with a maiden to Steve Smith as the Sri Lanka field opens up the sweep shot in an attempt to tempt the Australia captain into a loose stroke.
Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith make their way back into the middle with the Sri Lanka XI close behind as Australia resume on 85 for 2 and still 172 runs behind the hosts in Galle.
I sense battlelines are being drawn even with the Ashes still more than eight months away. Ray Murphy won’t hear a bad word about Zac Crawley, who has a Test batting average that has come to the attention of another reader in an earlier comment.
Dan Langan shouldn’t fret about England opener averaging low 30s over 50 tests. Australia have also retained openers with similar stats – and then proceeded to play both sons who also averaged low 30s! Does Zac have any boys yet?
Sri Lanka edged the first session as Kusal Mendis (85 not out) and Lahiru Kumara added another 28 runs for the last wicket to take the hosts to 257.
Travis Head (21) looked set to chase down much of that total before lunch until taking his typically front-foot attack a step too far as he attempted to loft Nishan Peiris over his head but instead nicked off to slip. Marnus Labuschagne (4) was out shortly after as his troubles in sub-continent conditions continue but Usman Khawaja (34 not out) and Steve Smith (23 not out) steadied to see Australia through to the break at 85 for two.
The Australian pair took the game away from Sri Lanka with their hundreds in the first Test but the tourists’ other centurion from that match, Josh Inglis, might have to move down the order after spending long periods off the field yesterday and today due to back spasms.
21st over: Australia 85-2 (Khawaja 34, Smith 23) Ramesh keeps giving Khawaja little to work with as he takes away the sweeping option. The left-hander finds a single off the back foot and Smith heads into lunch with one more taken from a nudge through midwicket. That’s lunch.
Adam Burke is on Team Marnus as well as he makes a reasonable point about the Australia No 3’s recent form, despite him falling for four today.
Dan Langan is right. It’s a bowler-dominated era and he just scored 72 & 70 in the Boxing Day Test for goodness sake.
20th over: Australia 83-2 (Khawaja 33, Smith 22) The Australian pair are falling into a familiar pattern with Khawaja taking an early single then Smith finding the boundary. The No 4 drives straighter this time for the same result.
19th over: Australia 78-2 (Khawaja 32, Smith 18) SHOT! All class from Smith, as we’ve come to expect from the Australia skipper, as he gets on the front foot and drives to the boundary. Smith appears to be moving through the gears but Ramesh is able to tie him down from there.
18th over: Australia 73-2 (Khawaja 31, Smith 14) A huge appeal as Khawaja is rapped on the pad trying to pull but replays show the ball pitched outside leg. It looked like a stretch on first viewing as well. But there is no doubt about the chance off the next delivery as Smith edges to slip but the ball falls narrowly short. Sri Lanka might have flashbacks to the first Test with half-chances like that.
17th over: Australia 70-2 (Khawaja 31, Smith 12) Khawaja and Smith share three singles playing off the back foot, though one is looking to get down on one knee at any opportunity and the other keeps searching for an excuse to go dancing.
16th over: Australia 67-2 (Khawaja 29, Smith 11) Smith is starting to look settled using his feet to Jayasuriya as he picks up an easy single to midwicket. Khawaja adds another with a reverse sweep.
Dan Langan has come into bat for Marnus Labuschagne.
Oh to have a problem like Labuschagne (30.3 in 25.5 Tests). England has a top-order batter averaging 30.5 in his last 53 Tests (his entire career) and he’s safe as houses.
15th over: Australia 65-2 (Khawaja 28, Smith 10) Ramesh Mendis into the attack for his first over of the innings but more of the familiar right-arm off-spin. Ramesh is a bit shorter than some of his teammates as Khawaja and Smith both look to play more standing up and off their pads.
14th over: Australia 62-2 (Khawaja 27, Smith 8) Khawaja is determined to sweep Jayasuriya whether in the more traditional fashion or a reverse. The shot almost undoes the opener when sweeps at a ball well outside off and takes a top edge. The ball flies high but lands safely. Khawaja finally gets one right with a reverse sweep the backward point boundary.
13th over: Australia 56-2 (Khawaja 22, Smith 7) Khawaja tries to sweep Peiris but misses as the Sri Lankans rise as one for lbw. The appeal is turned down and the hosts don’t bother to send it upstairs, though replays show it would have been umpire’s call. That’s probably the price of an overly-hopeful yet ultimately wasted review earlier from Smith’s first ball faced.
12th over: Australia 53-2 (Khawaja 21, Smith 5) SHOT! Smith steps down the track and whips Jayasuriya through midwicket for a classy boundary. But the spinner almost strikes back immediately as Smith attempts to drive, is beaten and Kusal lifts the bails. The umpire isn’t interested and Smith survives.
