Key events
86th over: Australia 357-5 (Carey 150, Webster 3) Alex Carey goes to 150 with a sweep for two. Sri Lanka need to prise him out sharpish to give themselves a sniff. They have to make this spinning new ball count.
86th over: Australia 352-5 (Carey 148, Webster 2) Peiris rattles through a tidy over, just a single to Webster off it. Australia’s lead is up to 95 runs.
85th over: Australia 351-5 (Carey 148, Webster 1) Beau Webster is the new man and he gets off the mark first ball with a slightly spawny looking inside edge into the leg side. Brilliant over from Jayasuriya.
WICKET! Inglis b Jayasuriya 0 (Australia 350-5)
Jayasuriya has two in the over! Inglis survives a huge lbw shout first ball but perishes for a duck off his second ball! Playing back to a ball that skids on, the off stump knocked back. Sri Lanka back in it!
WICKET! Smith c Kusal Mendis b Jayasuriya (Australia 350-4)
Gone! Steve Smith’s fantastic innings comes to an end and it takes a lovely ball to get rid of him. Pitching on off stump and drawing him into a defensive stroke, the ball gripped enough to take the edge and Kusal takes a nice catch up to the stumps. Smith nods his approval but still has to drag himself from the middle.
84th over: Australia 345-3 (Smith 131, Carey 143) Australia work the singles and hit the gaps for twos. Smith paddles and flicks and the lead approaches 100.
83rd over: Australia 341-3 (Smith 128, Carey 142) Smith drives for a couple through the covers to bring up the 250 partnership between this pair. Sri Lanka need to break this partnership and rattle through the rest if they are to keep themselves in this game.
82nd over: Australia 335-3 (Smith 124, Carey 140) Nishan Peiris shares the new ball. He’s on the money first up, four dots to Carey before the batter leans on a fuller one and picks up the only single off the over.
81st over: Australia 334-3 (Smith 124, Carey 139) Sharp spin with the new nut from the off. Jayasuriya draws Smith forward and beats him with one that turns past the edge. A few more dots are followed by a bit of a wild stroke from Smith, he loses his shape as he looks to whip through the leg side, the ball skewing off the inside edge and away for four.
Righto, the players are out there. Prabath Jayasuriya is going to start proceedings with the second new ball fresh in his mitts. Play!
The sun is beaming down in Galle, the tv footage cuts to a drone hovering along a beautiful coastline complete with shimmering sea and lightly puttering flags on top of the fort. Wish you were here? Yeh probably, although I’ve got clanking radiators and a light trickle of condensation inside my windows, so you know, feeling blessed too.
Dedication’s what you need…
Here’s Alex Carey, after having batted for most of yesterday & still unbeaten on 139, the first man out as always to go through his 40-minute wicket-keeping drills. Speak of discipline & dedication #SLvAus pic.twitter.com/oo79dB8Ja2
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 8, 2025
We’re about ten minutes away from the start of play on day three, just enough time to catch up on yesterday’s action:
Preamble
James Wallace
Hello and welcome to day three of the second Test from Galle. ‘Moving Day’ is what they often call the third day’s play of a Test match and we might well see plenty of moving and shaking over the coming hours.
Australia are firmly in command in the match and series – sublime centuries from Steve Smith and Alex Carey on day two saw the visitors finish with a lead of 73 runs with seven wickets still in hand.
Coming together at 91 for 3, Smith and Carey put on a masterclass of batting in sub-continent conditions, using every ounce of patience, skill and stamina to rack up 239 runs and counting. Movement you say? What movement? Well, if a breakthrough does come then there’s still plenty in this pitch to give the spinners hope, it’s also a tough one to get started on. I have a sneaking feeling the game could go into hyperdrive if the wickets start to tumble.
Play begins at 10am local time, 3.30pm AEDT and an eye-bag cultivating 4.30am here in the UK. Join us!
