SL v AUS, 3rd Test Day 4 Review: Sri Lanka gains healthy lead

Kaushal Silva smashed a wonderfully compiled century as he spared Sri Lanka of their blushes in the second innings and also succeeded in wresting control on a penultimate day in the final SL v AUS Test match. Although the Lankans found themselves in deep trouble, the end of the day’s play saw them boast of a healthy lead of 288.

The day began with Sri Lanka continuing from their overnight score of 22/1. Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne impressed one and all by seeing through the first half-hour of play until a brilliant piece of glove work from Peter Nevill gave way to a Sri Lankan wicket. Nevill almost seemed to wait for Karunaratne to lift his foot from the crease before whipping the bails off and going upstairs for a better idea of what had happened.

With Karunaratne out, things looked bright for the Australians as they pushed for a win over the Lankans who had vanquished them in the previous matches. Kusal Perera impressed with some aggressive batting until he too was dismissed by the Peter Nevill and Jon Holland combination. Thus after smashing five wonderful boundaries in his blast of 24 runs, Kusal Perera was well and truly on his way back to the haven of the pavilion.

When Kusal Mendis made his way into the wicket to have a bat, Steve Smith handed the ball to Mitchell Starc. This was quite clearly a wonderful piece of captaincy when Starc came on to bowl. However, the fact that Starc dismissed Mendis yet again was something extraordinary. The Aussies were certainly in the ascendancy at this point.

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However, Angelo Mathews and Kusal Silva began where the others left off. They began to stitch an important partnership in the grander scheme of things as Sri Lanka extended their lead beyond the 100-run mark. However, Mathews was dismissed as he was nearing his half-century when a thick outside edge found its way to skipper Steve Smith positioned in slip. Moreover, the fact that the catches were beginning to stick was also something that going in the way of Smith.

Dinesh Chandimal was Silva’s companion when the latter went on to complete an important century, only his third in Test match cricket. Moreover, the fact of the matter was that Dinesh Chandimal was picking up where he left off in the first innings after his well-constructed century. However, Lyon and Holland landed a double blow as they removed Silva for 115 and Perera for 43. Dhananjaya de Silva, who smashed a brilliant century in the first innings remained unbeaten on 44 at the end of the day.

Watch: Kaushal Silva’s century celebration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfZqgNOYOUg

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Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka, 1st innings: 353 all out

Australia, 1st innings: 379 all out

Sri Lanka, 2nd innings: 312/8 (K Silva 115; N Lyon 4/123)