Australia is in the box seat to pull off a series whitewash with three late wickets turning the tide back in the visitors’ favour after an admirable Sri Lankan fight back for much of day three in Galle.

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The hosts are eight wickets down for 211 with a lead of 54 runs at stumps on a day where 14 wickets fell as Nathan Lyon reached yet another remarkable career milestone and skipper Steve Smith took a ripping one-handed grab at slip.

Lyon snared his 550th Test wicket when Beau Webster clung on to a superb low catch at mid off to dismiss Sri Lankan number three Dinesh Chandimal, but it was another excellent Webster grab off Lyon’s bowling later in the day that proved more pivotal in the context of the match.

Veteran Angelo Matthews (76) was proving to be a thorn in Australia’s side as he combined with wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis (48*) for a crucial 70-run partnership that edged the hosts into the lead, and presented the prospect of the tourists being a set a very tricky fourth innings chase.

But with six overs left in the day, Matthews’ concentration waned and he fell for Lyon’s leg side trap, top edging a slog sweep to Webster at the unusual position for an off spinner of fine leg, three quarters of the way to the rope.

“It was a poor option … that’s exactly what Steve Smith wanted,” former Australian Test batter Simon Katich said on commentary.

“They were well on top in a 70-run partnership … with his experience I can only think the heat sapped him and he had a brain fade because that was a strange shot.”

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Ramesh Mendis must have been cursing Matthews’ strange shot as he was then dismissed for a duck, caught at bat pad from a Beau Webster off spinner.

The all-rounder has been known for nipping it around on the green decks of Hobart with his seamers, but showed off his versatility with an important breakthrough late in the day in what was a shrewd bowling change from Smith.

It was spin to win once again as Lyon has three wickets in the second innings, and it could have been four but for impact being umpires call on an lbw review against Kusal Mendis in the fourth last over of the day, while Matthew Kuhnemann is closing in on another five-wicket haul with four of his own.

The left arm tweaker replaced Webster for the final over of the day, and first ball found the outside of edge of Prabath Jayasuriya (6) to inflict a third late blow on the Sri Lankans.

Kuhnemann also picked up a vital scalp when he caught the outside edge of Dhananjaya de Silva’s (23) bat and Smith did the rest, diving away to his right in stunning scenes to break a 47-run stand with Matthews.

Smith’s career tally now stands at 199 in Tests – just 11 shy of the all-time record for a fielder set by Indian legend Rahul Dravid.

Earlier it was Prabath Jayasuriya who starred with figures of 5-151 from 38 overs, his 11th five-wicket haul in Tests.

Wicketkeeper Alex Carey notched a career-best 156, the highest score by an Australian gloveman in Asia, while all-rounder Beau Webster contributed some handy runs batting with the tail.

Resuming on Saturday morning at 3-330, Carey and captain Steve Smith added 20 runs before Jayasuriya broke the marathon partnership, with the rival skipper feathering behind to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis for 131.

The Sri Lankan tweaker removed Josh Inglis later in the same over for a second-ball duck after a flatter delivery skidded through his defences and rattled the pegs.

Carey, targeting the square boundaries, passed 150 for the first time in his Test career before missing a sweep shot in the 93rd over to become Jayasuriya’s fourth victim.

Australian debutant Cooper Connolly got off the mark with a lofted sweep that narrowly evaded deep square leg, but the left-hander departed the following over after attempting a reckless slog against spinner Nishan Peiris that floated towards point.

As the chaos unfolded at the other end, Webster gradually settled into his innings, successfully overturning an incorrect LBW decision from umpire Joel Wilson that was missing leg stump on ball-tracking. Later, Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis dropped a regulation chance behind the stumps to gift Webster a life on 25 and deny spinner Ramesh Mendis his first wicket of the innings.

Jayasuriya secured his five-wicket haul by toppling Mitchell Starc fpr 8 before Ramesh cleaned up the tail, producing an absolute peach that spun off the footmarks and bowled Webster through the gate for 31.

Australia were bowled out for 414 in 106.4 overs to take a 157-run lead in the first innings.

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