DIMUTH Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis’s 152-run stand for the second wicket helped Sri Lanka fight back on Day 2 of the second Test after bundling out Australia for 364 earlier yesterday, at the Galle International Stadium.

The duo applied themselves well even as the ball was turning and there was bounce on offer – even and well paced – and the Australians didn’t do much wrong with their channel of operation. While it took Sri Lanka 14.3 overs to hit their first boundary, both Mendis and Karunaratne were quick to pick the odd loose delivery to cash in and score boundaries.

Barring the occasional show of aggression, both the batters adopted the approach that brought ample success to Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith earlier in the game, ensuring that the scoreboard kept moving without much threat to their wickets.

Karunaratne eventually fell, on 86, late in the day when he was tricked by a quicker one from Mitchell Swepson and was hit on the pads while trying to play the leggie off the backfoot. Mendis, however, ensured there were no further dents as Sri Lanka went to stumps on 184 for 2.

Australia could’ve found themselves in a better position had Alex Carey not attempted an audacious reverse sweep off Prabath Jayasuriya. Having resumed the day on 298 for 5, the visitors were in little difficulty for the first half an hour.

However, the efforts to disturb the lengths of the debutant left-arm spinner weren’t working out the way the Australians would have wanted. Jayasuriya expertly used his variations in pace and release to trouble the visitors.
Unlike the other spinners, he didn’t err as often in length either. Carey’s shot went to the fielder at deep backward point and triggered Australia’s collapse.

Jayasuriya snared the scalps of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon in quick succession to finish with six wickets. Starc was caught at slips while Lyon was trapped leg-before. Kasun Rajitha added another wicket to his tally when he had Pat Cummins struck on the pads with an incoming delivery.

Steve Smith, who looked unfazed throughout his stay, farmed the strike with No. 11 Swepson to keep the Sri Lankans at bay for nearly half an hour before the tail-ender was eventually trapped leg-before by Maheesh Theekshana, who bagged his maiden Test wicket.

Brief Scores: Australia 364 (Steve Smith 145*, Manus Labuschagne 104; Prabath Jayasuriya 6-118, Kasun Rajitha 2-70) lead Sri Lanka 184-2 (Dimuth Karunaratne 86, Kusal Mendis 84*) by 180 runs. (Cricbuzz)

AUSTRALIA 1st innings o/n 298-5
Usman Khawaja b Ramesh Mendis 37
David Warner b Kasun Rajitha 5
Marnus Labuschagne stp. Niroshan Dickwella b Prabath Jayasuriya 104
Steven Smith not out 145
Travis Head b Prabath Jayasuriya 12
Cameron Green lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 4
Alex Carey c Ramesh Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya 28
Mitchell Starc c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya 1
Pat Cummins lbw Kasun Rajitha 5
Nathan Lyon lbw Prabath Jayasuriya 5
Mitchell Swepson lbw Maheesh Theekshana 3
Extras: (b-5, lb-6, nb-3, w-1) 15
Total: (all out, 110 overs) 364
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-70, 3-204, 4-238, 5-252, 6-329, 7-333, 8-338, 9-345.
Bowling: Kasun Rajitha 25-4-70-2 (w-1, nb-3), Ramesh Mendis 33-1-117-1, Maheesh Theekshana 16-2-48-1, Prabath Jayasuriya 36-3-118-6.
SRI LANKA 1st innings
Pathum Nissanka c Cameron Green b Mitchell Starc 6
Dimuth Karunaratne lbw Mitchell Swepson 86
Kusal Mendis not out 84
Angelo Mathews not out 6
Extras: (b-1, w-1) 2
Total: (two wkts, 63.0 overs) 184
Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-164.
Bowling: Mitchell Starc 12-2-28-1, Pat Cummins 13-4-34-0, Nathan Lyon 21-1-69-0, Cameron Green 3-0-8- 0 (w-1), Mitchell Swepson 11-2-31-1, Travis Head 3-0-13-0. Karunaratne.