Live: Australia chasing 75 runs to sweep Sri Lanka with victory in second Test

A bit of a surprise here with Nishan Peiris chosen over Prabath Jayasuriya with the new ball.

BEATEN! A quicker one from Nishan as he gets it to pitch on off stump and spin away sharply, as Head misses a prod.

CLOSE! The next one goes straight on and Head leaves it, and the ball juuuuuust misses off stump.

BEATEN AGAIN! Another big spinner from Nishan beats Travis Head!

FOUR! Head responds with a bit of a wild slog on the off side, a little too short and Head was able to throw his arms. Didn’t quite time it but it goes all the way.

Ramesh Mendis is going to operate from around the wicket to the two left-handed openers.

The second ball is a touch too full and Khawaja neatly works it away onto the leg side for a single.

Head rocks back and punches Mendis through the off side to open his account with a single as well.

I’d like to see a few more men around the bat here.

Mendis a little too short to end the over, and Khawaja finishes with a single with another back-footed punch on the off side.

The players are out on the ground for Australia’s run chase.

Usman Khawaja looks like he’s going to take the first ball. Travis Head out there with him, as he has been all series.

Ramesh Mendis is going to bowl the first over of this innings.

Can Sri Lanka get a few early wickets to make this interesting?

Hi Steph,

It wasn’t a great look from the Aussies not only claiming that catch, but then confidently strolling off the ground like the umpires were stupid to even review it.

They’ve done that a few times this series, only to have to return after they were proven wrong, and I’ve not really liked it.

Alex Carey has also proved to be one of those keepers who thinks everything is out.

Australia wraps things up quickly this morning in the end, with the last two wickets yielding 20 runs.

It’s another innings that will frustrate the hell out of the Sri Lankans, who were 5-198 just a few overs before stumps last night.

Those final five wickets are all on Angelo Mathews’s bat in my opinion after that absolutely brain-dead shot he played last night.

That might be harsh, but as your team’s most experienced and most decorated batter, you’ve just got to have better cricket IQ.

If your most experienced players won’t play smart cricket, there’s no hope that the youngsters looking up to him will.

Australia needs 75 to win and Travis Head and Usman Khawaja will be out in the middle in a little bit to commence what should be a comfortable run chase.

Beau Webster is brought on to play for his sins after claiming that catch.

Lahiru Kumara goes for a wild swing and misses and the ball clatters into the off stump.

Webster finishes with figures of 2-6 off 13 deliveries. A fair Test match for the old Slug.

Lyon getting a full over to have a crack at Nishan now.

BEATEN! Lyon pitches one on off stump and it spins past Nishan’s outside edge.

Nishan knocks the next one into the off side and Lahiru Kumara calls him through to a quick single, beats the throw from Josh Inglis.

CAUGHT REVIEW! The Aussies think they’ve caught Kumara out in the slips and it’s given out on the field.

Lahiru Kumara can’t believe what he’s seeing as the Aussies walk off confidently, and basically asks for the third umpire to check it.

Surely enough, replays show that it’s bounced into Beau Webster’s hands.

The Aussies had pretty much walked off the ground! Incredible scenes.

What’s that Barmy Army chant? “Same old Aussies?”

Kumara flicks the final ball of the over into the leg side for a single.

Kuhnemann pitches one on the same handkerchief outside Kumara’s off stump, and the left-hander defends it onto the off side for a quick single.

Nishan does well to push Kuhnemann into the off side to pick up another single. He looks much better in this innings.

Kumara comes down the track and goes for a big shot, but doesn’t quite time it.

Gets the next one down to long off for another single. He’s looked really solid out there, shame Kusal couldn’t hang around this morning.

Kuhnemann goes shorter and Nishan gets a cut shot out if you don’t mind, grabs another single.

Lyon continuing around the wicket to Kumara, slides one down the leg side and Sri Lanka picks up one leg bye.

Let’s see if Nishan Peiris can survive the remainder of this over now.

BIG LBW APPEAL! Lyon gets one to go on with the arm and it rushes into Nishan’s pads, but it’s given not out.

Steve Smith sends it upstairs, but I get the sense this is sliding down leg.

Ball tracking shows that it’s clipping the outside of leg stump, so it’s umpire’s call. Nishan survives.

There’s another LBW appeal to end the over, this one is a bit more muted. Lyon is less convinced, but Smith calls for another review.

I think it’s going to be a repeat of the first appeal, looks to be sliding down leg.

It’s hit Nishan on leg stump and is missing by a mile. That’s a poor review from Steve Smith.

Kuhnemann continuing to Sri Lanka’s last two batters. Can he pick up another five-wicket haul?

Kumara and Nishan pick up a couple of singles, every run is great for Sri Lanka here.

FOUR! Kumara skips down the track and whacks Kuhnemann down the ground for a boundary. That looked good!

Kumara ends the over with another single. This man should be batting higher than Jayasuriya, I’ve seen enough.

A major upgrade from Nishan Peiris, as he manages to defend two balls on the stumps.

Nishan has a Test batting average of 1.67 people. Makes Glenn McGrath look like Steve Waugh.

Steve Smith is the fifth player in Test history to take 200 or more catches as a fielder. Rahul Dravid holds the record with 210, I’d suspect will smash that record by the time he’s done.

Kusal Mendis is gone just a few deliveries after reaching a half-century!

Lyon gets one to spit up after pitching on middle stump and Kusal tries to pull it away but only succeeds in getting a top edge to Steve Smith who is at short fine leg.

Mendis goes for a very well-made 50, but things are surely going to wrap up quickly now here.

That is the 200th catch for Smith in Test matches.

Nathan Lyon to open the bowling alongside Kuhnemann on day four.

Kuhnemann bowling from over the wicket to Kumara, who defended well in the first innings.

These two put on 31 runs for the final wicket in the first innings, they’ll hope for that and some more.

Expect Kusal Mendis to farm the strike once again, something he didn’t do last night when batting with Prabath Jayasuriya.

Kuhnemann right on the money as per usual, pitching the ball outside off stump and spinning it back into Kumara.

He pitches the final one a little wider and Kumara leaves it and the ball spins past Carey for four byes. Handy runs for Sri Lanka!

The players are out on the ground and we’re about to get underway in Galle on day four.

Kuhnemann has five more deliveries left in this over and he’ll bowl to Lahiru Kumara, who is the new batter.

He’s been promoted over Nishan Peiris after the first innings.

Russel Arnold at the pitch report this morning saying it is more about the condition of the ball than the pitch.

It’s an abrasive surface, but Arnold says the new ball gets through a lot quicker, rushing onto the batters making it hard to survive.

Comparatively, the old ball, it’s harder to score off, but easier to survive because it comes on much slower as the seam becomes less and less pronounced.

Hi Chris,

Yeah it doesn’t seem like Marnus will have a big chance to impress selectors in this second innings.

That’s unless Kusal Mendis bats out of his mind this morning.

We had another Steve Smith worldie in the slips, an Australian collapse in the morning and a final goodbye from Dimuth Karunaratne.

Here are the quick hits from day three of the second Test.

It was a classic topsy-turvy day of Test cricket on day three.

Although Australia started and ended the day on top, Sri Lanka had its own moments as well.

If you missed any of the action, here’s a look at yesterday’s play as it all unfolded.