'He looked locked in' - Marnus Labuschagne feels Steve Smith was in right headspace on Day 1 in Galle

Australia ended on a high on Day 1 of the second Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle as they put up 298 runs for five wickets, thanks to centuries from Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. Labuschagne, after the day’s play, said that Smith was in the right headspace and looked “locked in”.

The 28-year-old also said that he was very disappointed with the first Test match, where he got out for 13 runs. He feels that it was due to going away from the process.

“From last week I was very disappointed. Probably just going away from my process rather than the dismissal,” Labuschagne was quoted as saying by India Today.

Nice to get that one off the back, says Labuschagne on scoring a hundred away from home

Labuschagne also added it was nice to score his first Test hundred away from home and to contribute and put the team in a good position. Australia lost opener David Warner early for 5 runs off 13 balls in the fifth over, and his batting partner Usman Khawaja departed in the 22nd over for 37 runs off 77 balls. Labuschagne walked into the crease when the visitors were at 70 for the loss of two wickets.

“And obviously Smudge got run out (in the last Test). The boys said this morning when he rocked up to the ground, he was in the Smudge (Smith) headspace and he looked locked in,” said the second-ranked batter in the format, according to the ICC Rankings. “Nice to get that one off the back. Obviously, it’s the first one away from home and to contribute and put the team in a position like we did today was very nice.”

Labuschagne and Smith together put up a partnership of 134 runs for the third wicket, before the former was dismissed by Prabhath Jayasuriya in the 59th over for 104 runs off 156 balls. Smith remained unbeaten with 109 runs off 212 balls, and alongside him is Alex Carey with 16* off 35 balls. The pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers was the left-arm orthodox spinner, Jayasuriya, who picked up three wickets for 90 runs in 28 overs.