AUS 83/3 | TARGET 268 | Sri Lanka (SL) vs Australia (AUS) 2016 Live Cricket Score, 1st Test at Pallekele, Day 4: Get updates on live score and ball-by-ball commentary for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka

Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 4 of the first of the three-match Test series between Sri Lanka and Australia, at Pallekele.

Good Morning, Subha Udǣsanak! Hello and Welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of Day 4 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 Kaustubh Mayekar , and I will be bringing to you all the live updates from today’s action.Day 3 again saw a major amount of rain interruption, with only a couple of sessions being played, as Sri Lanka continue to maintain grip, with a 196-run lead in the second innings, as they hope for a full day’s play on Friday, and hopefully tighten the grip over the Aussies. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Sri Lanka vs Australia, 1st Test at Pallekele

Batting hero Kusal Mendis backed Sri Lanka’s spinners to pile on the pressure against Australia after his brilliant maiden century gave the hosts an unlikely shot at victory in the first Test in Pallekele Thursday. An unbeaten 169 from Mendis helped Sri Lanka reach 282 for six at close of play on day three of a rain-affected Test, giving them a 196-run lead in a gripping contest against the world’s number one Test team, reported AFP. Kusal Mendis and others who reached their maiden Test hundreds with a six

Mendis’ knock was the highest score by any Sri Lankan against Australia at home and came after no player from either side had managed to even score a half century in the first innings. Mendis, who came to the crease in the first over of the day after the early dismissal of Dimuth Karunaratne, hardly put a foot wrong in his 243-ball innings which has so far featured 20 boundaries. He played Australia’s seamers with confidence before cutting loose against the spin bowlers with an array of boundaries, added AFP.

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

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