Sri Lanka v Australia: first men’s cricket Test, day two

Key events

88th over: Australia 346-2 (Khawaja 155, Smith 112) Peiris notched his own century this morning and starts his 25th over with 0-102. Still easy runs on offer here as Smith taps a run and Khawaja swipes a single in return. Peiris gets one to jag back at Smith now and there’s a yelp from the bowler as a crowd catch off the thight pad lands in the ‘keeper’s gloves. Shame that didn’t happen yesterday. Sri Lanka grassed two behind the wicket yesterday and the first catch they took didn’t count because they didn’t review it!

87th over: Australia 343-2 (Khawaja 154, Smith 110) Jayasuriya has also notched a century but it’s not one he’ll relish. He starts his 35th over with 1-106, a far cry so far from his 12-wicket haul that crushed Australia and won Sri Lanka the second Test here in Galle back in 2022. Smith gets on his toes to steer a single through cover and Jayasuriya finishes the over on a bright not by flashing one past Khawaja’s edge. Close!

86th over: Australia 342-2 (Khawaja 154, Smith 109) That’s 150 for Khawaja! It came from 223 balls, a very good clip considering Khawaja’s usually circumspect methods. He celebrates by sinking into a crouch and sweeping Peiris to the boundary. That’s Usman’s 11th four of the innings. He also wailed a six yesterday for good measure.

85th over: Australia 336-2 (Khawaja 149, Smith 108) Almost a run-out! Smith tapped Jayasuriya’s first delivery into the covers and set off but Khawaja bellowed in the negative and he had to spin and scamper to make his ground. To avoid further confusion, Smith skips down and whacks the fifth ball just shy of the rope. He gets two runs. That brings up the 200-run partnership for these two.

84th over: Australia 334-2 (Khawaja 149, Smith 106) Peiris to Khawaja as Sri Lanka opt for twin-spin to start day two. Unsurprising given medium-pacer Asitha Fernando went for near six and over yesterday, most of it from the broad blade of Travis Head. Peiris does better and delivers a maiden, his first from 23 overs.

83rd over: Australia 334-2 (Khawaja 149, Smith 106) Prabath Jayasuriya has been thrown the almost-new ball that is just 12 balls old. I doubt the left-arm spinner slept as soundly as Khawaja after dropping Steve Smith off his own bowling when the batter was on one. Exactly 105 runs later, Smith slaps a run through midwicket. Khawaja works another run off his hip. Sri Lanka bowled too full yesterday and both batters are again finding easy runs off the back foot today.

82nd over: Australia 332-2 (Khawaja 148, Smith 105) Nishan Peiris will bowl the first over of the day and it’s to Usman Khawaja who must’ve slept sweetly with 147 runs in the bank. He chips a single to cover to reopen his account and Smith does likewise.

Steve Smith has been speaking with the host broadcaster about reaching 10,000 Test runs. He became the fourth Australian to the milestone and 15th player overall. BY reaching the mark in his 205th innings, Smith became the fifth fastest player overall to reach the milestone. Only Brian Lara (195), Sachin Tendulkar (195), Kumar Sangakkara (195) and Ricky Ponting (196) did it quicker.

Yeah nice to get that out of the way, it’s been some time coming. I had my opportunity in Sydney a few weeks back and let that slip. But nice to get it out of the way first ball yesterday. I feel like I’m batting nicely at the moment. Obviously very different conditions to back home. Yesterday was kind of a hybrid wicket I think, in terms of when we came here last time. One of the Tests last time was pretty flat first innings and the broke up. The other one was pretty extreme from the outset. So yesterday it seemed like in the middle somewhere. It was a nice partnership with Uzzie. I thought he batted beautifully and I think it’s one of those wickets it’s going to be challenging to start on. But once you get the pace of the wicket, it’ll get a bit easier.

After lighting up the cricket world with his batting pyrotechnics in the Boxing Day Test against India, plenty of cricket fans were disappointed by the omission of Sam Konstas from the Australian XI for this Test, but the 19-year-old seems to have taken the news with typical nonchalance.

I’ve had the Ouija board out channelling the late great Tony Greig’s Weather Wall and the good news is that it’s blue skies in Galle. The forecast for today was a bit grim, with more showers predicted, but the day has dawned bright and sunny and play will start on time, which is to say 15 minutes early, at 3.15pm.

In Galle, the next man in for Australia is new No 5 Josh Inglis who yesterday became Australian Test cricketer No 470 (despite being born in England).

As Australia and Sri Lanka duel for the Warne and Muralidaran Trophy, Alyssa Healy is captaining Australia against England in the sole Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG.

Play has just begun and England are in early trouble after Maia Bouchier nicked one behind for stand-in keeper Beth Mooney to take an early catch off the bowling of Kim Garth in the very first over!

Join Martin Pegan’s live coverage here…

For those who came in late, here’s a match report of day one…

Preamble

Angus Fontaine

Hello cricket fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s over-by-over coverage of day two of the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at Galle International Cricket Stadium.

Australia bossed the opening day and galloped to an imperious 330-2 at stumps with Usman Khawaja (147 not out) and Steve Smith (104 not out) piling on the pain for the home side with an unbeaten 195-run partnership for the third wicket.

Smith had a day to remember. Captaining the side in the absence of Pat Cummins (back home awaiting the birth of his second child), he won the toss and chose to bat first on a grassless centre square. Having made the tough call to leave Australian cricket’s shiny new toy, teen sensation Sam Konstas on the shelf, he promoted the side’s No 5 Travis Head to opener with a licence to thrill. Head did exactly that, flaying three fours from the first over as a statement of intent, before going beautifully berserk for the next hour, walloping 57 off 40 balls.

It inspired Khawaja to up the ante too. After 34 innings without a century and a lean summer against Jasprit Bumrah, the 38-year-old looked reborn yesterday. Mixing classical drives and late cuts with adventurous reverse sweeps and paddle slaps, he kept the accelerator down when Head holed out with the score on 92 and Marnus Labuschagne (20) snicked off on 135. Khawaja’s 16th Test century came from 135 balls.

For Sri Lanka, 135-2 was as good as it got. They had already inexplicably failed to review an lbw appeal against Head that replays showed was hitting the stumps, then made the same mistake when Khawaja snicked behind. Khawaja was also dropped twice behind the stumps either side of lunch. From there, it got worse – much worse.

The costliest spill was when Prabath Jayasuriya dropped Smith on his third ball at the crease. By then Smith had secured the solitary run he needed for 10,0000 Test runs. The 35-year-old joined an exclusive club with 15 members including a veritable Rushmore of Australian batters in Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. With a typically quixotic array of strokes, he surged to 50 at run-a-ball then cruised to a 35th ton.

The weather Gods spared Sri Lanka some humiliation, by sending down showers 45 minutes before stumps. It gives day two an early start of 3.15pm AEST. But even if Sri Lanka break the Smith-Khawaja partnership this morning, debutant dynamo Josh Inglis is in next with SCG hero Beau Webster and the cavalier Alex Carey waiting in the wings to pile on the pain. Can the home side hit back? Or will Australia roll on?

Join us in a hot half-hour and we’ll find out.