Late scalps curb Australia's ascendancy after Lyon's five

A late run out that left Steve Smith fuming has soured an otherwise strong start to Australia's Test campaign in Sri Lanka as Nathan Lyon exploited a spin-friendly Galle pitch.

On a flint-dry surface on which balls regularly exploded with puffs of dust through the series' opening day, Lyon (5-90) bowled towards the ramparts of the stunning Dutch fort virtually unchanged for 25 overs to see Sri Lanka dismissed for 212 in the final session.

The Aussies then knocked over close to half the deficit in just 25 overs as Usman Khawaja (47no) took advantage of some sloppy Sri Lankan bowling and fielding to take his side to 3-98 at the close of play.

Niroshan Dickwella (58 off 59 balls) launched a sweep-a-thon to underpin the hosts' first dig in a blazing half-century that may prove vital in a Test that looks certain to be more of a good time than a long time.

But the wicketkeeper's grassing of a stumping chance off Khawaja, on 36 when he advanced to Ramesh Mendis (2-35) and missed a drive, could undo some of his good work.

Dickwella was front and centre again following a monumental mix-up between Smith and Khawaja that saw the pair, amid a noisy lbw appeal, get within handshake distance of one another mid-pitch before Smith scrambled back in vain.

The star right-hander, his shirt soiled from his desperate dive back into his crease, waved his arms about in a wide-eyed rage as he walked past Khawaja on his way off the ground.

Travis Head was unbeaten at the other end at stumps on six not out, with the Aussies trailing by 114 runs.

Mitchell Swepson (3-55) had earlier ended a 514-ball streak without a Test wicket by taking two in as many deliveries to crack open Sri Lanka's middle-order and leave them five down before they had reached 100. 

The Australian spinners went at close to four runs per over, though skipper Pat Cummins might take that given they took all but two of the Sri Lankan wickets to fall.

Cummins used DRS shrewdly to see the back of Ramesh Mendis and would certainly have been pleased with a series of superb catches taken that ensured regular breakthroughs were made. 

David Warner took three, the best an athletic grab diving forward from second slip off Angelo Mathews when the other fielders around the bat were appealing for an lbw, while wicketkeeper Alex Carey also snared a sharp chance to remove dangerman Dickwella.

Khawaja capped it off with a diving grab at mid-wicket in the final session to hand Lyon his 20th career five-wicket haul.

Warner was batting in a floppy white hat by the start of the third over of Australia's reply as the hosts, who picked four spinners and just one frontline quick, used four different bowlers in as many overs to begin the innings.

The visiting openers added 47 in just nine overs and while Khawaja, on 13, successfully overturned an lbw off Mendis, Warner did not bother sending his upstairs when the off-spinner hit him on the back pad to give his side a wicket against the run of play.

Marnus Labuschagne reverse-swept one straight to backward point before Smith departed to leave the Aussies at 3-83, before Khawaja and Head steadied.

Armed with the knowledge that the toss-winning side has lost just four of the past 15 Tests at Galle, Dimuth Karunaratne elected to bat after early monsoonal squalls gave way to piercing morning sunshine.

While it was pace that accounted for Sri Lanka's two first-session wickets as Mitchell Starc and Cummins both found the outside edge, it was abundantly clear the duo were to take a backseat to the Australian tweakers.

The first ball of spin bowled in the match was an ominous warning as Lyon spun and bounced one so extravagantly past Karunaratne's outside edge that it clattered into the helmet of Carey.

It was the kind of unplayable turn Kumar Sangakkara must have wished Lyon, who famously dismissed the star left-hander with his first ball in international cricket at the same ground and from the same end 11 years ago, had gotten instead of the one he edged to slip.

Swepson by comparison started with a nervy one down leg but found his groove to remove Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal in consecutive balls, posing a constant threat as he and Lyon sliced through the hosts' middle-order.

The enterprising Dickwella needed just 42 balls to reach his 21st Test half-century (the most by a Test batter who has never scored a ton) and played the shot of the day with a daring 'Dilscoop' off Cummins.

Shane Warne, who had helped rebuild the seaside ground in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, was honoured before play with a commemorative plate presented to Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley.

And the uber-aggressive leg-spinner, who had taken his 500th Test wicket at the venue only months before it was decimated by the devastating waves, would have been satisfied with the breakneck speed of the opening day's play that saw 13 wickets fall and runs scored at a rate of 3.69 per over. 

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Pathum Nissanka, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Ramesh Mendis, Chamika Karunaratne, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka, Praveen Jayawickrama, Lasith Embuldeniya, Jeffrey Vandersay. Standby players: Dunith Wellalage, Lakshitha Rasanjana.

Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. Standby players: Jon Holland, Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy

June 29 - July 3: First Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST

July 8-12: Second Test, Galle, 2.30pm AEST

Sri Lanka v Australia Test matches will be screened live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports