Australia on verge of series win after fast moving day three

A couple of decisive late breakthroughs and some more intuitive captaincy from Steve Smith has Australia on the cusp of a rare series victory in Asia as a compelling second Test reaches its denouement.

The visitors began day three firmly in control of the finale after their thumping win in the opener last week, leading by 73 runs with seven wickets in the bank and the surface turning faster than a banana smoothie in the Sri Lanka sun.

But a stunning new-ball fightback in today's morning session when Australia coughed up 7-84 against the left-arm spin of Prabath Jayasuriya, before Sri Lanka through veteran Angelo Mathews (76) and first innings standout Kusal Mendis (48no) ended the day 8-211 and 54 runs in the lead.

The home team's hopes would be higher if not for the late removal of Mathews to a needless stroke against Nathan Lyon, and Smith's decision to introduce Beau Webster for his first over of off-spin bowling at Test level that claimed tailender Ramesh Mendis.

Then, as Webster prepared to send down the final over of the day, Smith opted for a sudden 'gut feel' bowling change and brought back Matthew Kuhnemann, who duly removed Prabath Jayasuriya with his first delivery.

Lyon (3-80) and fellow specialist spinner Kuhnemann (4-52) sent down 45.1 of their team's 62.1 overs between them and had removed the top half of Sri Lanka's batting before Mendis and Mathews launched a counter-attack to put them in front.

And while Australia will fancy their chances of wrapping up the final two wickets in the morning and knocking off the required runs despite the pitch vagaries, they will also be mindful of Kusal's capacity to bat with tailenders.

The keeper-batter found himself in a similar position in the first innings and dominated a vital 10th wicket partnership of 33 with pace bowler Lahiru Kumara, as Sri Lanka recovered from 6-150 to post a total of 257.

Today the scoreboard showed 5-128 when Kusal joined Mathews with a further 30 runs required to avoid a second consecutive innings defeat.

Mathews had been a peripheral figure across the previous days of this series, and had passed 50 just once in his previous 14 Test knocks coming into today.

Unlike retiring teammate Dimuth Karunaratne, the 37-year-old has not signalled an end date to his lengthy career but that choice might not have been his had he failed in the series finale with Sri Lanka's next Test engagement against Bangladesh mid-year.

But the former captain looked to be carrying his team to a position from where they might hold hopes of a win having been let down by a couple of his top-order batting partners before he found willing ally Kusal.

After the pair had put together a decisive stand of 70 and within the shadow of stumps, he aimed an ill-advised sweep at Lyon that flew to Webster who made good ground at backward square leg and clutched a crucial catch.

Amid predictions they were hurtling towards a second defeat by an innings in as many Tests, Sri Lanka could hardly have made a more emphatic statement starting 157 runs in deficit.

Opener Pathum Nissanka followed an imperious off-drive boundary from the innings' third ball by Mitchell Starc by an even better strike for the same result through extra cover two deliveries later.

But any suggestion an application of the heavy roller between innings had altered the pitch's venomous nature were allayed next over when Starc's new-ball partner Kuhnemann struck the initial blow.

Operating around the wicket, Kuhnemann got the hard, shiny ball to skid through as Nissanka played for spin and had his middle stump tilted back in a manner that was becoming hauntingly familiar as the Galle pitch turned nasty.

Smith's preparedness to be guided by instinct rather than institution was exemplified when, after a two-over salvo from Starc, he called upon part-timer Travis Head to become a first-change bowler for the first time in his Test career.

Local hopes that ex-skipper Dimuth Karunaratne might find one last act of heroism in the final innings of his 100-Test tenure were scotched when the popular 36-year-old tickled a catch behind off Kuhnemann having scored 14.

The speed at which Karunaratne reviewed umpire Joel Wilson's decision suggested he was certain no bat was involved, but after technology revealed it was the batter who was mistaken, the opener left the Test arena for the final time.

Smith trotted after Karunaratne to shake his hand, as did Lyon while the remaining Australia players stood and applauded and batting partner Dinesh Chandimal ran to him and wrapped him in a prolonged hug before he disappeared to a loud ovation.

It was Lyon accepting plaudits shortly after when Chandimal became his 550th Test scalp and the first of two comparatively soft dismissals in near identical circumstances that robbed Sri Lanka of their two best-credentialled batters.

Former captain Chandimal, who had passed 50 in the first innings of both Tests this series, came down the pitch to Australia's record-setting spinner and drilled a catch to the right of mid-off who had been set midway to the boundary.

When left-hander Kamindu Mendis repeated the mis-stroke for the same result 12 overs later, his batting partner Mathews – who had watched both implosions from the non-striker's end – could not conceal his abject disbelief.

Kamindu had come into this series as his team's top-ranked Test batter and the only Sri Lanka named in the ICC's Test Team of the Year for 2024, having posted five centuries over that 12 months.

But he finished his first campaign against Australia as a major disappointment, with scores of 15, 32, 13 and 14 with his careless dismissal today symptomatic of the sort of profligacy he's been guilty of.

When Mathews reached 50 with an emphatic blow beyond the extra cover boundary off Kuhnemann, batting didn't seem quite the trial it had been earlier in the day and it seemed Australia needed a moment of inspiration to regain the initiative.

To the surprise of nobody, that was provided by Smith who lunged instinctively low to his right when skipper Dhananjaya de Silva pushed with soft hands at Kuhnemann and held the chance in one claw as he tumbled to the turf.

But as he had done in the first innings when he top-scored with 85no and was deprived a deserved century when he ran out of partners, Kusal added some flourish to Mathews' doggedness and Sri Lanka found themselves with a lead and a pulse.

At the close of day two, Australia appeared to have the game at their mercy having pocketed a lead of 73, with both century makers still at the crease and seven wickets up their sleeve.

But at end-of-day media conferences, both teams had noted the imminent arrival of the second new ball immediately upon resumption today would pose an altogether new threat.

That was apparent from the morning's fifth delivery when Smith – resuming on 120 but having to re-adjust to the changed conditions – went down the pitch to Jayasuriya and skewed a rare mishit from the inside edge of his previously unerring blade.

The mishit landed between fielders and ran to the rope, but it was clear batting had become a vastly different proposition to when he and Carey had forged their stand that stood unbroken at 239 last night.

The Test took a decisive turn when Smith pushed forward with the same confident authority he had shown throughout his five-hour stay only to find the ball had gripped and spun sufficiently to graze the outside edge.

The opening Sri Lanka had suddenly became a genuine opportunity within a couple more balls as Josh Inglis saw his Test average of 102 summarily halved.

Whether he remained inconvenienced by the back issue that had forced him from the field during Sri Lanka's first innings and down the order when Australia batted, was not obvious during the two balls he spent at the crease.

However, the in-form right-hander renowned for his acumen against spin graphically illustrated the problems batters would face starting their innings by surviving a big lbw shout from Jayasuriya's first delivery and losing his middle stump to the second.

With the top half of their batting gone and just 20 runs added for the day, Australia looked to Carey to push their lead beyond 100 and the left-hander was up to the challenge.

Another well-executed sweep took him to 150 for the first time in a 12-year first-class career, becoming the first Australia Test keeper to reach that milestone in Asia.

But to prove no batter could feel safely 'in' on the suddenly extreme Galle surface, Carey succumbed to his beloved sweep when he played over the top of Jayasuriya's fuller follow-up delivery and was bowled.

In the space of seven overs with the new ball, Sri Lanka's left-armer had removed all three of Australia's remaining top-order batters which left rookie allrounders Webster and Cooper Connolly to push the lead towards 200 in concert with the tail.

The task would have been gruelling for a battle-hardened campaigner, but for 21-year-old Connolly in his maiden Test outing it proved a bridge too far.

Having posted his first Test runs with a top-edged sweep that fortuitously found the boundary, the left-hander then charged headlong at off-spinner Nishan Peiris and tried to belt him into the Galle Fort but managed only to slice a simple catch at backward point.

The rapidly approaching end of Australia's innings would have come even sooner if not for Webster's sturdy defence and long reach, and a rash of fielding blemishes from Sri Lanka who sensed they were suddenly back in the game.

However, with every ball a potential wicket in what had become – in keeping with the predominant influx of visitors in Sri Lanka's ongoing holiday season – Russian roulette, it was apparent Australia weren't going to bat out the session.

The fact the final three wickets, Starc (8), Webster (31) and Kuhnemann (6), were all bowled by deliveries that spun sharply past their probing bats would have prompted delight and dread in equal measure for Sri Lanka as they began their innings after lunch.

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

First Test: Australia win by an innings and 242 runs

Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka (subject to fitness), Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)

Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)