Steve Smith broke Ricky Ponting‘s record for the most catches in red-ball cricket for Australia on a delicately poised opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. The stand-in skipper’s latest milestone came as Nathan Lyon (3-78) and Mitchell Starc (3-37) led the way with the ball for Australia to leave Sri Lanka 9-229 heading into day two on a deck likely to get even trickier to bat on.

Once again it was a crucial toss to win but this time it fell Sri Lanka’s way and the hosts unsurprisingly chose to bat. Lyon picked up the early wicket of opener Pathum Nissanka for 11 but it was a solid fightback from the hosts, with Dimuth Karunaratne (36) and Dinesh Chandimal (74) getting the Sri Lankans back on track, before Lyon struck again to remove the former. The veteran Aussie spinner set up Karunaratne beautifully before sneaking one through the gate to clean-bowl the opener.

The second wicket sparked another mid-order collapse from the Sri Lankans who lost 4-57, before Kusal Mendis (57 not out) dug in to bail the home side out of jail. Australia’s leading wicket-taker from the first Test, Matthew Kuhnemann (2-53), also chipped in and grabbed the crucial scalp of Sri Lanka’s top scorer Chandimal, who was stumped by Alex Carey after a sharp piece of work from the Aussie keeper.

Test debutant Cooper Connolly – who was presented his baggy green cap by Aussie great Simon Katich before play began – went wicketless after only bowling three overs. While Travis Head (1-31) showed his class turning the ball in spinning conditions, with the Aussie vice-captain removing Kamindu Mendis (13), who was caught by Smith.

The catch moved the stand-in skipper level with Ponting with 196 catches and when Starc returned to the attack later in the day, he combined to help Smith break the Aussie record with his 197th catch in Test matches. Starc had just removed Ramesh Mendis before Smith caught Prabath Jayasuriya for a duck, although Starc was unable to complete the hat-trick.

Fans hit out over shocking umpire moment

Smith’s special moment was another incredible milestone for the Aussie veteran after he joined the exclusive 10,000-run club in the opening Test. And it came after farcical scenes earlier in the day when Lyon thought he’d picked up his fourth wicket as umpire Joel Wilson gave Kamindu Mendis out caught behind.

Wilson has a reputation around the cricket world for some absolute howlers and once again came under fire from fans after replays showed the ball sailing past Mendis’ bat without getting a touch. Lyon and the Aussies appealed after Carey caught the ball behind the stumps and after a brief deliberation, Wilson raised his finger to give it out.

Mendis immediately appealed and it soon became evident why he was so confident after replays showed the ball missing the bat by some margin and Snicko showing no spike as the ball went through to Carey. Fans immediately took to social media to condemn Wilson over his latest clanger, with some describing it as a “horrid” decision from the experienced umpire.

with AAP