Smith and Khawaja settle Australia after wickets tumble

Tea Australia 66 for 2 (Smith 28*, Khawaja 25*) trail Sri Lanka 117 (Lyon 3-12, Hazlewood 3-21) by 51 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Steven Smith and Usman Khawaja steadied Australia following a shaky start in Pallekele, where Sri Lanka’s capitulation for 117 was followed by Australia losing both openers inside four overs. At tea on the first day, Smith and Khawaja had restored some normality on what was, after all, quite a decent batting pitch. At the break, Smith was on 28 and Khawaja on 25, and at 66 for 2 Australia trailed by just 51.

Notably, a half-century had been raised. True, it was only a partnership, but the 59-run Khawaja-Smith union was already more than double the next best stand of the match, the 25 compiled by Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal. Mathews must have been scratching his head wondering what went wrong, having won the toss and chosen to bat. There was some spin and a little swing, but not so much to have caused this.

Rare is the Test in which a first innings of 117 is adequate, though Mathews would have been buoyed by the start made by his bowlers. In the third over, Nuwan Pradeep got one to swing back in to David Warner, who chopped on for a duck, and next over Joe Burns was bowled for 3 by a skidding delivery from Rangana Herath, who shared the new ball in an attack short on pace options.

Australia were 7 for 2, but Sri Lanka could not quite continue the carnage as Khawaja and Smith settled in. In contrast, wickets had fallen regularly throughout Sri Lanka’s own innings, and they survived only into the 35th over. They went to lunch on 84 for 5 and lasted only a further 38 deliveries after the resumption, as Nathan Lyon finished off what Josh Hazlewood had started.

Lyon, who bowled just a single …

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