Sri Lanka vs Australia Live Score 1st Test, Day 2

So, 261/2. Australia on top? Ummm... perhaps. But that's just one side of the coin. Let's take you back to what happened around 2-and-a-half years back. The venue was Galle and Australia had won the toss and elected to bat. They were 204/2, with both Labuschagne and Smith making centuries. They collapsed to 252/5 before Smith took them to 364. But then, Sri Lanka replied with 554 and the elusive win on Lankan soil kept eluding Australia. Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done as the pitch tends to get better to bat on Days 2 and 3. Don't know what could be a good first innings score, but as far the Aussie skipper is concerned, he will want his side to be close to 350 at the end of the day and not lose more than a couple of wickets in the final session. The first ball is expected to be bowled at 9.30 AM GMT.

From Australia, it has been a batting clinic. Usman Khawaja has felt at home right from the start while Steven Smith has found his hands, gloves, bat, pads, feet and what not. The motive was pretty clear - do not let the spinners settle. Constant use of the feet and the sweeps and reverse sweeps have been putting the bowlers off their lines and lengths and the visitors have profited so far. The rotation of the strike has been decent as well and Smith and Khawaja would want to build more on this.

DRS lessons? Ahhh... hard to point a finger at Dhananjaya de Silva. A fielding captain takes a review either when he is extremely confident or when his teammates are. There have been plenty of chances missed, in terms of reviews, especially those of Usman Khawaja, but when the keeper and bowler themselves are not sure, how can the captain be blamed alone? There was another unfortunate moment for the Lankans, again involving Khawaja, when his reverse sweep took the top edge but due to his own helmet, Kusal Mendis could not see the ball.

Nothing much to complain against the Sri Lankans. They have toiled hard, but because this is just Day 1, the ball has been turning but not square enough. Yes, it did turn big time when it was new, just before Lunch, with Jeffrey Vandersay wreaking havoc. But once it has gotten older and softer, the batters have been making merry. The bowlers have toiled hard, especially Prabath Jayasuriya, who has already bowled 25 overs. If Australia manage to take this into a fourth session, then Jayasuriya would have bowled more than 50 overs, which is a great achievement considering that this is just the first innings of the match.

Another session in Australia's favour. A wicketless session which saw 116 runs being scored in 28 overs. After a frenetic opening session, a pretty sedate second session in comparison as the ball stopped doing much as it got older.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Tossed up, full and down the leg side, Smith blocks it with his front pad and the ball rolls behind near the short fine region. And that will be TEA ON DAY 1!

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Fuller than a good length, outside leg, Steven Smith hangs back and deliberately pads it to the leg side, offering no shot whatsoever.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Identical line and length, with some turn in this time, Steven Smith pads it.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Too full and flighted on the leg stump, Steven Smith takes a huge stride forward to defend.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Outside leg again, full in length, but goes straight on. Smith judges it well and offers no shot.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Pitched outside leg, on a length, Steven Smith gets behind and taps it into the leg side.

Another lucky escape for Usman Khawaja! This is regarding 57.5. It looks touch and go but the more one looks at it, the feeling is that Khawaja has got a reprieve. UltraEdge shows two murmurs, first when the bat hits the ground. And the second time is when the ball is close to the glove! Easy to say as an afterthought that the review should have been taken but what's the guarantee that the third umpire would have been convinced that there was glove involved?

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Pitched on a length, turning away from middle, Steven Smith tucks across to the leg side and takes a single. Quite an eventful couple of overs.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Full and drifting in and turning a bit away, Steven Smith leans on it and defends it straight.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Length-delivery, outside off, Steven Smith punches it to the off side.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Turns away from off, full in length, Steven Smith keeps it out.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Nice and full on middle, pushed back to the bowler.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Slowish on a fuller length, on the stumps, Usman Khawaja scoops it to deep fine for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Length ball, on middle, Usman Khawaja punches it down to long on for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Another appeal and again, Sri Lanka do not opt for a review! Flighted outside off, and turns back in sharply. Khawaja sits down on one knee to play the reverse sweep but doesn't connect again, and the ball passes close to the inside edge. Kusal collects it again behind the stumps and appeals, but no confidence again to send it upstairs. Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis both have a wry smile. This passed a bit more closer to the gloves as well.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, An appeal for caught behind, but nothing from the umpire! The clock ticks down. And they do not review it. Flat and outside off, on a fullish length, turning back in. Usman Khawaja misses to reverse sweep and the keeper collects it behind. Looked like Khawaja's bat brushed off the ground on that one.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Bowled a bit flat and outside off, Usman Khawaja walks ahead and eases it back to the bowler.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, FOUR! Swept away with real authority! Tossed up and around off, turning in a touch, Usman Khawaja brings out the broom again and sweeps it in control. Beats the diving deep mid-wicket fielder to his right for a boundary.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Outside off, full and turning in. Usman Khawaja hops across and tucks it off the inside half of the bat to the vacant short leg region.

Yawn. It is a long, long day. That's what the fielders must be feeling in this heat. First, it was Usman Khawaja and now it is Kusal Mendis. Khawaja shrugged that hamstring issue off citing it as cramps and now, it is Mendis, getting some stretching. This could also be a bit tactical, as with around 11 minutes to go till Tea, the fielders might just want to stall proceedings a bit, to break the concentration of the batters. Play resumes.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Nice and full, around middle and off, Steven Smith lunges ahead and defends it with a full bat face.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Full, tossed up on off, Smith leans across and keeps it out.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Pitched up, full and around off, Usman Khawaja reverse sweeps it to deep backward point, uses his wrists and gets to the other end.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Drags the length back, on middle and turning into the pads, Usman Khawaja gets on the back foot and tucks it to deep square leg. Runs the first hard and calls for the second instantly seeing the fielder being a bit late to mop it up. Gets the second easily.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Looped up, fuller and on middle, Steven Smith works it down to long on for a single.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Quicker, slider on middle, Usman Khawaja shimmies down and clips it past mid-wicket for a single. The 250 comes up for Australia!

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Pitched outside leg, full in length, Steven Smith lunges ahead and offers no shot. Pads it away and the ball deflects behind the keeper.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Down leg on a length, Smith is happy to let it pass.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Outside leg, on the pads, Steven Smith leans on and looks to clip it away but wears on the pads.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, A leg slip and a silly mid on in place. Drifting on pads, Smith offers no shot.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Outside off, full and spinning in. Usman Khawaja hops across off in an awkward way and gets an inside edge to the square leg region for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Slowish on a length, turning back in. Punched across to short mid on.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Nice and full, looped up on off, Steven Smith drives it inside-out to short cover.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Short again, on middle and leg, Usman Khawaja hangs back and pulls it to widish long on for a single. The stand for the third wicket grows to 113 runs now.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Short of a good length, on middle, Smith tucks it across to the vacant mid-wicket region for a single.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Steven Smith, Flighted leg-break on middle, turning to the off stump. Watchfully defended by Smith.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Length outside off, punched to deep cover for a single.

Jeffrey Vandersay to Usman Khawaja, Pitched full and on off, Usman Khawaja reverse sweeps it through point. Prabath Jayasuriya from deep third runs across to his right and mops it up. Two taken.

Spin in tandem again. Asitha has been rested. Jeffrey Vandersay is back on. 12-0-55-1 so far. 

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Tossed up, full on middle, Smith tilts forward and eases it back to the bowler.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Very full on off, Usman Khawaja drills it down to long on for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Tossed up, outside off, clipped to short mid-wicket.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Flighted-delivery, pitched full around off. Steven Smith drives it off the front foot to long off for a single. Bowled very slow at just 79.2 kph. 

Prabath Jayasuriya to Usman Khawaja, Brings out the reverse sweep again! Effective again! Full, outside off, Usman switches his stance and works it to deep backward point for a single.

Prabath Jayasuriya to Steven Smith, Tossed up around middle and leg, Smith works it towards widish mid-wicket region for a single.