Stumps: Australia lead by 73 runs
80th over: Australia 330-3 (Smith 120, Carey 139) Carey tucks Kumara’s final delivery off the pads for four to complete a marvellous day for Australia, who will surely wrap up a 2-0 series victory over the weekend – possibly tomorrow.
They looked in a bit of bother at 91 for 3, with the ball doing plenty and Sri Lanka’s spinners appealing for everything. Steve Smith and Alex Carey changed the momentum with the minimum of fuss and then batted for the rest of the day. Their fourth-wicket partnership is 239 from 51.1 overs.
Smith and Carey put the clinic in clinical, wearing Sri Lanka down and giving a lesson in how to dominate on a turning pitch. Smith did as he pleased in the afternoon session before tiring a little in the evening; Carey, promoted to No5 because of Josh Inglis’s back spasms, took up the reins and sped to his second Test hundred.
Sri Lanka had no answer to Carey’s sweeping, reverse and orthodox, and he thumped some lovely boundaries down the ground as well. Smith reviewed successfully after being given out LBW on 23. Even by that stage he was batting so well that a 36th Test century, and his fourth in the last five games, looked likely if not inevitable.
It’s hard to know what else to say. Two superb players, one an all-time great, played with oodles of intelligence and skill to break the spirit of a decent but limited team who expected to dominate on a fairly typical Galle track. The word is overused these days, not least by me, but that partnership really was a masterclass.
We’ll have a match report shortly, and I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon for the start of day three. The new ball is due, which should make the ball spit even more. Once this partnership is broken, expect the game to move pretty fast.
Updated
