Dinesh Chandimal’s 13th Test ton and half-centuries to debutant Kamindu Mendis and Angelo Mathews saw Sri Lanka take control on Day 3 of the 2nd Test against Australia.
The visitors began the day in almost perfect fashion as Nathan Lyon saw to the end of Kusal Mendis 3 overs into day 3. The off spinner had struck Mendis on the pads in the previous over as well, but the batter was saved by an umpire’s call after Australia reviewed. It was almost a carbon of the delivery which got the wicket, except this time Umpire Michael Gough gave it out and though Mendis reviewed, three reds saw him walking back to the pavilion for 85.
Angelo Mathews and Chandimal survived close calls during their 83-run partnership, Australia losing 2 reviews in overs 77 and 79 – Mathews was struck in front playing a reverse sweep, given not-out and then saved by an under-edge on snicko, while Chandimal survived a bat-pad appeal.
The latter certainly had his fair share of luck during the day, given a life when on 11 and the score 205, when Alex Carey missed a tough stumping off the bowling of Lyon and nicking one to Carey off Mitchell Starc when on 30 only for the Australians’ appeal to be turned down by Umpire Kumar Dharmasena – the visitors’ exhaustion of their reviews costing them.
Mathews was dismissed soon after lunch, but debutant took on the challenge with maturity, looking composed in his innings of 61. Mendis’ defense and shots square of the wicket were particularly impressive as he played a good supporting role to Chandimal in their partnership of 133.
Having been in the field for the 4 and a half sessions, the Aussie bowlers looked tired, but Sri Lanka gifted them 2 quick wickets in the last hour of play – Mendis missing a sweep and being clean bowled by Swepson and Niroshan Dickwella trying to loft the ball easy in his innings, only to find Pat Cummins at mid on.
Ramesh Mendis looked to attack late in the day as Sri Lanka finished with 431/6 and a lead of 67.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usman Khawaja | b Ramesh Mendis | 37 | 77 | 4 | 0 | 48.05 |
| David Warner | b Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 38.46 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | st Niroshan Dickwella b Prabath Jayasuriya | 104 | 156 | 12 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Steve Smith | not out | 145 | 227 | 16 | 0 | 63.88 |
| Travis Head | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 12 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Cameron Green | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Alex Carey | c Ramesh Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 28 | 61 | 4 | 0 | 45.90 |
| Mitchell Starc | c Kusal Mendis b Prabath Jayasuriya | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.50 |
| Pat Cummins | lbw b Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Nathan Lyon | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Mitchell Swepson | lbw b Maheesh Theekshana | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21.43 |
| Extras | 15 (b 5 , lb 6 , nb 3, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 364/10 (110 Overs, RR: 3.31) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 25 | 4 | 70 | 2 | 2.80 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 33 | 1 | 117 | 1 | 3.55 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 16 | 2 | 48 | 1 | 3.00 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 36 | 3 | 118 | 6 | 3.28 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Mitchell Starc b Cameron Green | 6 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 24.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | lbw b Mitchell Swepson | 86 | 165 | 10 | 0 | 52.12 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Nathan Lyon | 85 | 161 | 9 | 0 | 52.80 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Marnus Labuschagne b Mitchell Starc | 52 | 117 | 4 | 0 | 44.44 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | not out | 206 | 326 | 16 | 5 | 63.19 |
| Kamindu Mendis | b Mitchell Swepson | 61 | 137 | 7 | 0 | 44.53 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Pat Cummins b Nathan Lyon | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 38.46 |
| Ramesh Mendis | lbw b Mitchell Starc | 29 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 29.59 |
| Maheesh Theekshana | b Pat Cummins | 10 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 37.04 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | b Mitchell Starc | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | lbw b Mitchell Swepson | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 14 (b 4 , lb 6 , nb 1, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 554/10 (180 Overs, RR: 3.08) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitchell Starc | 29 | 3 | 89 | 4 | 3.07 | |
| Pat Cummins | 30 | 5 | 95 | 1 | 3.17 | |
| Nathan Lyon | 64 | 5 | 194 | 2 | 3.03 | |
| Cameron Green | 6 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 3.33 | |
| Mitchell Swepson | 37 | 2 | 100 | 3 | 2.70 | |
| Travis Head | 8 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 3.38 | |
| Marnus Labuschagne | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 2.67 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Warner | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 24 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 54.55 |
| Usman Khawaja | c Oshada Fernando b Prabath Jayasuriya | 29 | 47 | 4 | 0 | 61.70 |
| Marnus Labuschagne | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 32 | 59 | 3 | 0 | 54.24 |
| Steve Smith | lbw b Prabath Jayasuriya | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Travis Head | b Ramesh Mendis | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Cameron Green | st Niroshan Dickwella b Prabath Jayasuriya | 23 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 71.88 |
| Alex Carey | not out | 16 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Mitchell Starc | c Prabath Jayasuriya b Kusal Mendis | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Pat Cummins | lbw b Maheesh Theekshana | 16 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 88.89 |
| Nathan Lyon | lbw b Maheesh Theekshana | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 166.67 |
| Mitchell Swepson | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 1 (b 1 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 151/10 (41 Overs, RR: 3.68) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 3.20 | |
| Maheesh Theekshana | 5 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 5.60 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 15 | 2 | 47 | 2 | 3.13 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 16 | 2 | 59 | 6 | 3.69 | |
