Good Morning, Subha Udǣsanak! Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 3 of the first of the three-match Test series between hosts Sri Lanka and visitors Australia, at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. I am Devarchit Verma , and I will be bringing to you all the live updates from today’s action. The day 2 saw a curtailed day’s play owing to some rain interruption, as we expect a full day’s play on Wednesday, however, the chances of rain still hang above due to the overcast conditions. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka still trail by 80 runs in the first innings, as the game is still anybody’s. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test at Pallekele
Sri Lanka trailed Australia by 80 runs with 9 wickets to spare in second innings wickets on Wednesday after a heavy downpour forced umpires to end Day 2 of the first Test against Australia in Pallekele. After Australia were all out for 203 in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings total of 117, the hosts then lost opener Kusal Perera for just four when he was ruled out lbw to a ball from paceman Mitchell Starc. Earlier, Australia went on to make 203 runs in their first innings, taking what could prove to be a crucial lead of 86 runs in a low-scoring match. Australian streaker jailed and fined in Sri Lanka
Veteran spinner Rangana Herath and the debutant Lakshan Sandakan took 4 wickets each while seamer Nuwan Pradeep picked up 2 wickets. Adam Voges top-scored for the Australians with 47, meaning no player from either side managed to score a half-century in the first innings. Smith shared a 62-run stand with Khawaja for the third wicket before the former was sent back early on Day 2 by Herath.
Teams:
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Rangana Herath, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan.
Australia: Steven Smith (c), David Warner, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill (wk), Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon.
Catch the live cricket scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary of Sri Lanka vs Australia 2016, 1st Test here