Australia must overturn 40 years of Test history in Sri Lanka to claim a 2-0 series win after DRS woes left them on the back foot in the second Test at Galle.
Sri Lanka went to stumps at 6-431 on day three in reply to Australia’s 364, already leading by 67 runs in the first innings.
It came on the back of a fine 118no from Dinesh Chandimal, while Angelo Mathews and debutant Kamindu Mendis joined Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis in hitting first-innings half-centuries.
With two days to play, the odds are already firmly stacked against Australia.
Teams from outside Asia have won just once when giving up a first-innings lead in Sri Lanka, having gone on to lose or draw on all 28 other occasions.
And none have mounted a comeback with the deficit Australia are already facing.
Sri Lanka’s 149-over effort has come after they lost all 20 wickets in just 81.5 overs in the first Test, heavily beaten by Australia in little more than two days.
But this is a far different wicket, devoid of the demons that caused prodigious turn in the series opener.
Australia’s quicks have also been unable to generate any reverse swing, with the lush wicket square and outfield helping preserve the ball.
There is still hope the wicket could deteriorate by day five, despite showing no serious signs of wear so far.
But even if that is the case, it is likely it will now be Australia fighting for a draw rather than trying to force a result.
Dinesh Chandimal of Sri Lanka celebrates after reaching his century. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
However, despite the challenge, Australia are still adamant their chances of a 2-0 series sweep remain alive.
“We are well and truly in this game,” coach Andrew McDonald said at stumps.
“Anything south of a 100-run lead or around that gives us a real opportunity. That is probably the reward for batting first.
“This wicket definitely will deteriorate. There have already been some signs of deterioration.
“We think it will still be decent for batting tomorrow and then it might show some signs of deterioration late in day four and then day five.”
The tourists have also only made life harder for themselves after running out of reviews in Sunday’s first session.
Chandimal should have been out on 31 when he edged a cut off Mitchell Starc, but Australia had no option to refer the on-field call of not out.
Veteran Mathews was also lucky to survive an lbw shout off Nathan Lyon that would have been out on review, only to fall at bat pad off Starc (2-47) in the next over for 52.
Alex Carey also missed three chances behind the stumps, one an extremely difficult stumping prospect when Chandimal danced down the wicket to Lyon on 10.
The ball spun sharply from outside off and beat batsman and keeper on the way to fine leg.
Carey’s other big chance for a stumping off Lyon, however, should have been taken when Kamindu Mendis was on 43, before the debutant was eventually bowled by Mitchell Swepson (2-90) out of the footmarks for 61.
The missed chances marked a tough day for Lyon, who finished with Niroshan Dickwella’s wicket while battling cramps during his 56 overs for 2-160.
The offspinner had started the day by trapping Kusal Mendis lbw in the third over for 85, at which point it looked like Australia could expose the lower order and attain a first-innings lead.
But Chandimal got off the mark by going inside-out and driving Lyon for four and six in consecutive balls, setting the tone for a clinic in playing down the ground.
Pierro
Roar Rookie
Jeff usually two of the tests In India are raging turners the other two are more pace bowling orientated until last day or two . I suspect Carey will travel to India and keep unless he has an awful summer on home soil which shouldn’t be hard . this test has really shown Australia’s issues yet again. warner and head will bat well on Aussie wickets but does that mean they go to India . the bowling got hammered by Sri Lanka and the batting crumbled . Sri Lanka is not always easy but we got well beaten
Pierro
Roar Rookie
intersting debate Jeff , most agree dickwella performed worse than Carey and most media said two of the stumpings were difficult. I saw one that should have been taken but you can probably forgive one on foreign pitch . the other kept very very low and the initial one against chandimal most said was simply extremely difficult . Will this matter back on most other wickets now ? time will tell Carey has done very well on Aussie wickets . so let's assess Aus and India and england tests . if he is making too many errors there I'll definitely support the search for a new keeper although I think his batting holds up well outside of his decision to reverse sweep at times . warner and head remain the biggest problem on these foreign pitches right now
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Trigger happy desperate acts when on the slide that’s why bowlers should never be captains you need a batsman as captain sitting in the slips watching every delivery.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
He was the Golden Child :stoked:
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Gilly is first player chosen in my World XI
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Exactly
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Gilly was a unique talent hard to replicate & silly to use that motto for current or future keepers that represent Australia in test cricket as you suggest fraught with danger!
Rellum
Roar Guru
Inglis at least to my eyes looks like he has the eyes and hands to do better. Whiteman always looked the goods as well
Jeff
Roar Rookie
"Mitcher" rarely adds much to the discussion John. Almost always comes in late with one-liners that aim to do nothing but snipe from behind, and personally-based. I believe they call that type of contributor a tr..... Hence why I push back against Mitcher. I enjoy good discussion and get annoyed at having my time wasted, and this site dragged down, by time wasters and tr....s.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Cactus in terms of winning you mean? We need to set ourselves to bat long.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Same issue with Inglis. Yes, he's kept well to Agar and others for WA in Shield, but it doesn't give many pointers as to how he would go in SL/India/Bangers. Though that said, Inglis seems to have a natural "fluidity" with his movement - hands and feet. But how does one really know how he'd go in these conditions? As CA further butchers the Shield, we'll know even less.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Gilly was the problem – since then, Aus keepers seem to get sorted in the pecking order according to batting ability. And so the upcoming keepers seem as much focused on their batting, as their keeping. Neville got dumped because his batting returns were low and he wasn’t enough of a loudmouth. – But no 60-100 innings will compensate for missing 3 or 4 opportunities behind the stumps. If you can’t dismiss your opposition, the rest is irrelevant. And the keeper (I mean, the actual keeping) is pivotal to that in the subcontinent. – The India series is going to be a tough slog for Carey I suspect.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Australia keepers just have to be the best in the world or near to it, that is our history. The massive decline in keeping standards from Gilly is a real concern.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Hard to say as he has not really been exposed to much spin and spin friendly conditions. When Swepson was bowling at a world class level a couple of Shield seasons ago he did really well. I have always said Carey is weak up to the stumps at FC level. QLD keepers to me have had a steady decline in standard but a gradual one. Healy was an all time great, Seccombe was just off him, Hartley was just off Seccombe and Pierson is just off Hartley.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
There was one early in Chandimal's innings that would be unkind to classify as easy, but the rest should have been taken. Again, keeping to spin there isn't easy, but that's what he's there for. And if you go into a subcontinent game reliant on your spinners, it's an unfortunate fact that you simply have to rely on your keeper to complete those dismissals. What's your view on whether Pierson could handle these conditions? I haven't seen near enough of him to have a viewpoint.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Yeah, I have seen what I think are all three and none of them look like they are ok to miss for an Aus Test keeper. Maybe there is one I haven't seen
Tony
Roar Guru
I'm predicting a draw. Gamble responsibly.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Have to disagree. His last two stumping misses weren't overly difficult. Obviously nothing's "easy" standing up at Test level, but they were gettable and that is his job. And India won't be any easier. But it wasn't just those misses, he had his gloves out of position on quite a few standing up and the ball bounced out. It would be good to hear an expert 'keeper's take on his technique, but seems to me his hands movement is a bit stiff, or rigid. That said, not sure I could think of a better replacement in these conditions of the current crop in Australia, but we need him to work at getting better on these surfaces. Though that will be difficult if he doesn't get the exposure to these wickets.
Rellum
Roar Guru
No one, anywhere sees Smith as underrated. He is nearly universally rated as one of the best players in the world and in history
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Smith's average is the highest of any batsman after 153 innings (http://www.howstat.com/cricket/statistics/batting/BattingBestAfterXInnings.asp?Stat=2). Interestingly, Ponting's average peaked at 60.07 after 178 innings, before significantly declining in the last 5 years of his career. I do agree though that, based on his career to date, Smith is our best batsman since Bradman. Pitches and bowling attacks are more difficult now than they were in the early 2000s when Ponting dominated, and Smith has made big runs in bowler-friendly conditions away to strong bowling attacks (e.g., India 2017 and England 2019) in a way Ponting never quite did.