Live Cricket Score: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 2nd Test Day 3

Ramesh Mendis to Steven Smith, Too short and down the leg side, 90 kph and even with the big amount of turn, pretty easy for Steven Smith to go back and help it towards fine leg for a couple. Moves to 31 and the deficit is now 158.

Ramesh Mendis returns. 4-0-13-0 so far.

Nishan Peiris to Alex Carey, Pitches up, outside off, Carey lunges and drives it but straight to the cover fielder.

Nishan Peiris to Alex Carey, Nagging length, around middle, Alex Carey comes forward and defends it.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Tossed up, around middle and off, Steven Smith shimmies down the track and drills it towards long off for a single as his one hand also gets off the handle. 

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Fuller, outside off, 87 kph, Smith lunges to work it towards short mid-wicket.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Full, outside off, 82 kph, Steven Smith goes deep in his crease and defends.

Nishan Peiris to Alex Carey, Tossed up, outside off, very full, 81 kph, Alex Carey drives it towards long off for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Fuller again, around off, Steven Smith plays this full ball on the back foot but manages to defend it. 

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Floated up, slower through the air, around off, Steven Smith drops it down off the front foot.

Oye! Prabath Jayasuriya was about to deliver but bails out at the last moment. Probably, wanted to check what was Carey planning. On cue, Alex gets ready for the reverse sweep!

Prabath Jayasuriya to Alex Carey, Tossed up, around leg, Alex Carey still goes for the reverse sweep and executes that for a single towards deep point.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Alex Carey, Similar delivery, Carey goes for the paddle again and this time connects well. Short fine leg gets to the ball and keeps the batters to a couple. The keeper is off the mark.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Alex Carey, Full, outside leg, Alex Carey gets down to paddle but misses and is hit on the pads. Up go the Lankans in an appeal but Jayasuriya does not even bother. Replay shows a bit of glove involved.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Flighted, outside off, 85 kph, Steven Smith reaches out and drives it behind point for a single.

Nishan Peiris to Alex Carey, Sharp work by Pathum Nissanka at short leg! This is bowled flatter and angled well into the pads, Alex Carey strides to block but is beaten and the ball lobs off the pads in front of short leg where Nissanka reaches out and pouches it well.

Alex Carey walks in next at number 5, replacing Usman Khawaja.

Nishan Peiris to Usman Khawaja, OUT! LBW! Another huge appeal for LBW and the finger is raised! It seemed to be going on with the angle but Usman Khawaja has been given out and he does review it as well. Nishan Peiris comes around the wicket and slides the ball in on a length from off, angling it well in. Khawaja rocks back to pull but is hurried and is undone by the low bounce as well. The ball sneaks under the willow to hit the pads. There's nothing on UltraEdge and Ball Tracking comes up with three reds as well. The onfield decision stands and Khawaja has to depart for 36(57), Australia now 91/3!

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Flighted up around off and middle, Steven Smith gets on the front foot and gets inside the line before easing it away wide of short mid-wicket for a single.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Full, outside off, Smith lunges to keep it out.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Outside off, Smith goes back to push it away.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Full, outside off, a back foot defense on offer.

Not enough clarity on Josh Inglis' batting position. Oh okay, hang on. We get a clarity. If these two can bat on till 7.50 am GMT, then Inglis can bat at his usual position. He cannot come out to bat until that time, or before the 5th wicket falls, WHICHEVER IS EARLIER.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Floated up, full and on middle, Usman Khawaja blocks it off the front foot.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Just drags the length back a bit too much and bowls it outside off, Smith rocks back and cuts it through point for a run.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Outside the line yet again! Nagging length around off, pushed through a bit quicker and this one slides on. Smith goes back and across to block but misses and gets pinged on the pads.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, On middle, worked through the leg side for a run.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, OUT OF MY WAY! Excellent fielding by Khawaja, but in the wrong innings. Flighted, outside off, Steven Smith comes down the track and hammers it straight back down the ground. But his partner, Khawaja cannot get out of the way in time and gets hit. The ball deflects wide of mid on and the batters get only a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Full, outside off, Steven Smith leans and pushes this towards the covers.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Tossed up again, a bit too full though and Steven Smith strokes it away down to wide long off for a single. The 50-run stand is also up between these two!

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Tossed up, full and around off, Smith leans on to defend again.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Flatter trajectory, pushed through on off and middle, Smith hangs back and defends it out.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, Outside off, pushed back to the bowler.

Nishan Peiris to Steven Smith, STEVEN SMITH ADJUDGED LBW BUT THE DECISION IS OVERTURNED ON REVIEW! A full ball, outside off, Smith got a long way across to defend. The ball pitched and then spun back in, not bouncing enough. Smith is rapped on the pads and a confident Peiris appeals and umpire Joel Wilson raises his finger. Smith has a long look at where he is, then asks Khawaja. That's just for a formality, because he was always going to go for the review. Well, the first replay seems to indicate the impact to be outside off. But all depends on Ball Tracking. No inside edge, a flat line seen on UltraEdge when the ball goes past bat. Yes, IMPACT OUTSIDE OFF. Decision reversed!

Nishan Peiris to Usman Khawaja, Full, outside off, 82 kph, Usman Khawaja leans and drives it towards long off for a single. First run of the session.

Peiris again? Yes, no change.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Back to around the stumps, tosses it up slower and on off, Smith lunges and blocks it off. Maiden!

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Nicely bowled! Flighted up, a bit slower and on off, angling away again, Smith looks to block down the line but is beaten past the outside edge.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, A swing and a miss! Bowled from over the wicket and tossed up on off, angling away, Steven Smith brings out the big sweep but misses it completely.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Landed around off, this time the skipper goes right back to defend, albeit a bit awkwardly.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Thrown up, wide outside off, 84 kph, Smith's eyes light up on seeing that. Goes hard on the cover drive but mistimes it off the inner half of the bat towards short extra cover.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Full, around off, 83 kph, Steven Smith lunges and defends.

Welcome back to a sunny Galle. The players are back out in the middle. It will be Prabath Jayasuriya to start off proceedings post Lunch. Smith will be on strike. Here we go...

... DAY 2, SESSION 2 ...

Australia will be happy with the score reading 85/2 but take your minds back to what happened roughly 24 hours ago. The Lankans were 93/1 and then collapsed to 150/6 in that afternoon session, which also included the set batter in Dinesh Chandimal. With Cooper Connolly slotted in at 8, the Aussies do have a long batting lineup but it is going to be a massive test against spin in these dry conditions. The Lankans will understand that it is just a matter of patience and a collapse can be on the cards anytime. The second session is scheduled to begin at 7.10 am GMT.

Often, in the subcontinent, one brings two. Head's wicket put a seed of doubt in the new batter, Marnus Labuschagne's mind and he played back to a ball he should have been forward to, adjudged LBW by the third umpire on review, after the onfield umpire had given him not out. That was Prabath Jayasuriya's opening over and at that moment, the wicket maiden, the first maiden of the innings, seemed to indicate that life was gonna get difficult for the visitors. But after that, along came Smith with his hacks, trying to unsettle the opposition while Khawaja was ready with the broom to sweep and reverse sweep the dust off the surface. The duo did put the spinners off a bit and as a result, a decent stand of 48 has clocked up in around an hour.

The opening Test was a forgetful one for many a bowler in the Lankan side, but mostly so, for Nishan Peiris, as he was not able to land the ball on a consistent line or length. But here, he came and on the very first ball of his spell, beat Khawaja on the outside edge. Perhaps that was a dropped catch as well, no one knows yet because UltraEdge was not shown. The keeper, Kusal Mendis could not hold on. But Peiris got a lot of confidence from that one ball and nine deliveries later, he got one to turn away beautifully past Head to get caught at slip.

When the Lankans took the field in the second innings, not sure whether it was a plan or were their minds still on Day 1 of the first Test. Before a ball was even bowled, the field was spread, perhaps in the anticipation of Travis Head throwing his wicket away in the deep. What happened instead was a flurry of runs instead for both Aussie openers as Head and Khawaja calmly seemed content with the easy singles on offer. The first 6 overs saw 3 boundaries, all by Head but in the remaining 33 balls, as many as 18 singles were scored. However, just when it seemed like it is going to be a repeat of the first Test's opening day, Nishan Peiris struck.

Sri Lanka resumed the day at 229/9 and as predicted by one of my colleagues on Thursday evening, they did end up playing for half an hour this morning. Kusal Mendis tried his level best to bat for as long as possible but eventually, a ball from Matthew Kuhnemann consumed Lahiru Kumara after the last-wicket pair had added 35 runs, but most importantly, played out 69 balls. Just when it seemed like things will boil out of shape due to frustration, Kuhnemann struck in the nick of time for his side as Mendis was stranded on a fine unbeaten 85.

The two seasoned campaigners have ensured that the cat let loose by Sri Lanka does not scatter the pigeons away in the Aussie camp. Australia got off to a flier, going at 5 an over for the first 6 overs, only to be pegged back with two quick wickets in the span of 8 balls, before Khawaja and Smith brought things back to normalcy. Overall, a decent session for both sides with Australia probably a touch happier because of the run rate.