MATTHEW Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon combined to bowl out Sri Lanka for 247 in their second innings and spin Australia to a massive innings and 242-run victory. The spin duo picked four apiece, amidst brief fightbacks from the hosts, after Australia enforced the follow-on in the morning session.

Sri Lanka, who mustered only 165 in their first innings, saw their middle order, frustratingly, throw away good starts to concede a 1-0 lead in the two-match series inside four days of the rain-affected Test in Galle.

On the brightest morning of the game thus far, Sri Lanka resumed on 136/5 with the aim to avoid the follow-on. However, that resolve lasted only half an hour. Once the overnight batters took the home team past the 150-run mark, Kuhnemann set the trap for Kusal Mendis with a floated delivery and as the batter leaned in to sweep and got a top-edge that was taken comfortably in the deep. The collapse was swift thereafter.

Lyon, at the other end, got rid of the second set batter. It was one reverse too many for Dinesh Chandimal who went for yet another sweep and this time was caught plumb in front. He reviewed, but to no avail.

Sri Lanka lost the second-half of their batting for just 29 runs inside an hour, and then three more in the session to go to Lunch staring at defeat. Following on, the hosts had a forgettable start with the bat once more. Mitchell Starc struck on the first ball of his second over to trap Oshada Fernando dead in front with an inswinging yorker.

At 6/2, Angelo Matthews joined hands with Chandimal to resurrect the innings and together the two batters managed to put on a 69-run stand that was Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the game across the two innings.

However, at the stroke of Lunch, Lyon dismissed Chandimal for the second time in the session to dent the little progress that Sri Lanka made. In the afternoon session, Kamindu Mendis kept busy in his 26-ball stay of 32 runs, doing the bulk of the scoring in the 39-run partnership with Mathews.

After a brief counterattack, though, Kamindu threw away a perfect start when he skipped down the track to slog Kuhnemann and found Starc at cow corner instead. Three balls later and without having added a run to their total, Sri Lanka lost Mathews too.

In about the 14 overs that followed, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis kept the visitors at bay by stitching a 65-run stand for the sixth wicket that took Sri Lanka past their first innings score. Dhananjaya, however, joined the long list of Sri Lankan batters to throw away perfectly fine starts when he went for an ill-advised lofted shot to give Kuhnemann his fifth wicket of the day. In the very next over, Lyon had Kusal stumped as on 34 to make it a double whammy for the hosts.

Vandersay smacked and entertaining cameo of 53, in 47 deliveries, came to an end the next delivery and Sri Lanka succumbed to a massive defeat. (Cricbuzz)