GONE! A short and not particularly sweet stay at the crease for Connolly. He skews an attempted lofted drive to cover.
95th over: Australia 384-6 (Webster 19, Connolly 4) Jayasuriya whirls away with slip, leg slip and short leg around the bat. Connolly plays a sweep off his legs and gets a top edge for his first runs in Test cricket. The ball bounces once and plops over the rope for four.
94th over: Australia 378-6 (Webster 18, Connolly 0) Webster gets a top edge off a sweep and it flies safe over the keeper and away for four. A single brings the debutant on strike. Beaten! A decent ball to get first up, pitches on a length and spins past the edge. Welcome to Test cricket, son.
93rd over: Australia 373-6 (Webster 12, Connolly 0) Cooper Connolly arrives at the crease on his Test dayboo. I think his batting might actually be his strongest suit at the moment. Let’s see what he’s made of – Australia’s lead stands at 116. Realistically Sri Lanka need to take these wickets for 20-30 runs max, if they then bat for a day or so and manage to set Australia a tricksy total of 150ish on a day four and five wicket then you never know. It’s a long shot, they’ll need one or two of their batters to go big like Smith and Carey.
Webster uses his long levers to drive into the off side, a good diving stop from the man at cover keeps it to one. Carey then trots out of his crease and marmalises a ball through mid-off for four. GONE! The sweep fails for the first time, Carey tries to sweep a ball that is too full and it cleans him up. Jayasuriya gets his third of the morning! A fine knock from Alex Carey comes to an end, 156 runs off 188 balls in tricky conditions.
92nd over: Australia 368-5 (Carey 152, Webster 12) Shot! Webster drops to his haunches and unfurls a powerful reverse-sweep past point for four. A conventional sweep brings him two more.
91st over: Australia 360-5 (Carey 151, Webster 5) Jayasuriya in his groove this morning, those two wickets have given him a spring in his step. Peels off a maiden.
90th over: Australia 360-5 (Carey 151, Webster 5) Webster is happy to sweep off his stumps, if he misses he is a goner. Nishan nearly draws him out of his crease for a stumping opportunity but the big man just about manages to keep his back foot grounded.
89th over: Australia 358-5 (Carey 150, Webster 4) Jayasuriya stitches together a probing maiden to Webster.
4⃣ centuries in his last 8⃣ Test innings.
Steve Smith has been brilliant for Australia since rediscovering his form in the last Test series against India.#SteveSmith #SLvsAUS #cricket pic.twitter.com/niAGdck6O6
88th over: Australia 358-5 (Carey 150, Webster 4) Sharp turn from Nishan Peiris, lands on one middle and leg and it rips past the off stump. Unplayable, even for a bloke on 150.
87th 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.
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!
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
We’re about ten minutes away from the start of play on day three, just enough time to catch up on yesterday’s action:
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!
