Aussies' three-man attack forces untimely Sri Lanka collapses

The anticipated spin-demon of a Galle pitch didn't materialise, but as Sri Lanka's improved batting effort showed it still poses the real risk of losing clumps of wickets in a rush.

Opting to bat first with spin expected to become increasingly problematic across coming days, Sri Lanka ended day one on 9-229 but could have been in better shape if not for a couple of untimely collapses.

The first came shortly after lunch as Australia put the squeeze on their rivals' top-order with some disciplined and intuitive bowling, and the other arrived with the second new ball at day's end as Mitchell Starc found himself on a hat-trick.

By day's end, perhaps the most significant takeaway was the difficulty new batters will find starting an innings on the dry surface, with the value of set batters posting scores of substance self-evident.

The fact Sri Lanka had four batters pass 25 but none get to 75 underscored the challenges, but also bore testament to the quality of Australia's bowling and another near-flawless effort in the field.

Steve Smith set a new benchmark for most catches by an Australia fielder in Tests, surpassing Ricky Ponting's record of 197 when he snaffled tailender Prabath Jayasuriya off Starc for a first-ball duck.

The challenge for Smith and his fellow top-order batters will come amid what is likely to become increasingly extreme conditions from tomorrow onwards.

Having made it past 20 with only one wicket down for the first time in the series, Sri Lanka's top-order again imploded as they slumped from 1-93 to 5-127, and then 6-160 before they showed unexpected lower-order resistance.

While Australia had bolstered their all-round stocks with the inclusion of 21-year-old Cooper Connolly for his debut, it was again frontline pair Nathan Lyon (3-78 from 30 overs) and Matthew Kuhnemann (2-53 off 30) who shouldered most of the burden.

Lyon's haul leaves him one shy of 550 career Test wickets.

And while Kuhnemann was not as destructive as in the series opener where he finished with nine wickets, he did capture the prized scalp of Sri Lanka's former captain and current best batter Dinesh Chandimal.

But they received invaluable assistance from left-armer Starc who found elusive reverse swing for the first time in the tour now the Galle wicket block has hosted one Test and multiple centre net sessions.

Starc was near unplayable in an outstanding second spell between lunch and tea in which he was unlucky to claim just the one wicket, then earned his rewards with the second new ball as Sri Lanka lost 3-9.

That initial breakthrough was one of three Australia earned from the first over after Smith had initiated a bowling change during the course of an attritional day played in breezy and decidedly less humid conditions than the first Test.

And while Connolly (who came into the XI at the expense of off spinner Todd Murphy) sent down almost a fifth of the total overs (three) he had previously bowled in his four-game first-class career, neither he nor fellow allrounder Beau Webster were given much work.

As skipper Smith had foreshadowed prior to the game, part-time tweaker Travis Head ended up delivering more overs (eight) than the allrounders combined, highlighting that Connolly was picked to bolster Australia's lower-order batting on what will surely become a challenging strip.

That ploy certainly worked for Sri Lanka who axed leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay (first-class batting average 15.6) and replaced him with off spinner Ramesh Mendis (39.9) to find some much-needed lower-order resistance.

Given the rude haste with which Sri Lanka's final four wickets had tumbled in the first Test – indeed, across the last three Tests including their dire tour to South Africa – Australia might have thought they would be batting well before stumps.

They had removed Sri Lanka's only in-form specialist batter Chandimal for 74, when he pushed forward to a ball from Kuhnemann that fizzed past the bat's edge and Alex Carey completed his fourth stumping of the series to date.

Chandimal, who had top scored for his team in the opening Test with 72 in the first innings, seemed bewildered as to how having his back foot resting on the crease didn't save him from third umpire Richard Gaffaney's correct verdict.

At 6-150 just minutes after tea, Sri Lanka appeared set for similar score to the first Test when they crumbled for 165 in their first knock.

However, the decision to replace their most potent spinner from last week's game (leg-break bowler Vandersay) with off-spinner Ramesh Mendis to add further depth to their brittle lower-order proved prescient.

Even though Vandersay had posted his maiden Test half-century on the final day of the first Test, that was the result of some fortuitous late-overs slogging and Ramesh soon showed himself to be a far more accomplished batting option.

With his namesake (though no direct relation) Kusal who remained 59no, the pair defied expectations the dry, abrasive surface would begin to crumble come the final session and put together an invaluable seventh-wicket stand of 65 to set up an intriguing second day.

Unlike the traditional island fare and its cavalcade of feisty accompaniments, the Galle pitch that was supposed to betray spice from the outset instead proved as benign as bowl of cooling curd across the day's first session.

Sri Lanka's hopes of hauling themselves back into the two-game series after enduring their biggest-ever Test loss (by an innings and 242 runs last week) hung largely on taking first use of a surface that was seemingly held together by a light rolling of lawn clippings.

Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva duly obliged at the coin toss in what may yet prove his most meaningful contribution to a largely forgettable campaign for him personally.

His re-cast team, however, scarcely resembled the skittish batting line-up that succumbed twice within a day's cricket of the first Test.

Apart from the loss of recalled opener Pathum Nissanka – who got so far across his stumps in trying to sweep in Lyon's first over he had no chance of preventing the off-spinner clipping the leg bail – the home team took barely a misstep.

Afforded a guard of honour formed by both teams as he walked to the wicket, following a poignant pre-game acknowledgement of his 100th and final Test, Dimuth Karunaratne was gifted a full toss first-up from Kuhnemann to get his innings underway.

It appeared Karunaratne might join the likes of Australia's Ponting and David Warner by posting a memorable knock in his milestone match when he reached untroubled on 34 with Sri Lanka 1-87 off 30 overs.

Chandimal had looked to up the tempo close to lunch when he advanced to Kuhnemann and sliced him over point to the boundary and then, two balls later, was even more authoritative in lifting him beyond the long-off rope.

That second blow initially looked to have sent the ball into the frenzied traffic roundabout that abuts the stadium, but it was eventually found and returned to the bowler.

But the local celebration ended and the complexion altered dramatically upon resumption as Australia's revamped bowling strategies and Sri Lanka's ongoing batting frailties flipped the script.

The turnaround was started by Lyon in his second over of the session when he outfoxed Karunaratne by pushing through a faster, flatter delivery that pinned his quarry on the crease and scudded from the bat's toe to the stumps' base.

From that point, Sri Lanka were unable to find any momentum against the dual spin attack of Lyon and Kuhnemann.

It had taken Australia 90 minutes and 21 overs before Kuhnemann produced his team's first maiden of their bowling innings, but in the hour after lunch he and Lyon found a further three with only two runs conceded from five overs of spin.

Veteran Sri Lanka allrounder Angelo Mathews was the principal culprit in the go-slow, scoring only a single from the 26 deliveries he soaked up before he was also tricked by Lyon's change in pace and chased a wide ball into Carey's gloves.

The sight of Head taking the ball for the first time in the day emboldened Chandimal and Sri Lanka's top-ranked Test batter Kamindu Mendis to play some shots, which netted each of them a boundary from the part-timer's first four balls.

But as he's done so regularly, to the point he now has a stock celebration ready for the when the moment arises, Head snared a vital breakthrough with the last ball of his opening over when he had Kamindu caught at slip.

It was Smith's record-equalling 196th catch, but an even finer moment followed soon after.

Having prised out two top-order batters inside as many overs, Smith made good his pre-match vow to wring bowling changes on a whim and brought back Starc with a sense the ball was starting to swing reverse.

Within two deliveries he was vindicated as Dhananjaya – who had spent more time chatting with Lyon at the non-striker's end than batting as it turned out – played at a full, wide ball outside off stump and squeezed a knee-high catch to gully.

Starc celebrated the breakthrough by motioning the ball had indeed shaped away from the Sri Lanka skipper who had expected it to angle in from around the wicket, and capped a decisive phase in which Sri Lanka lost 4-34 in less than 14 overs.

Having bowled just 13 overs across both Sri Lanka innings in the first Test, Starc produced perhaps the best spell of the series to date in conditions that offered little to pace bowlers, sending down five overs for a personal return of 1-2.

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

First Test: Australia win by an innings and 242 runs

Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

Sri Lanka Test squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka (subject to fitness), Oshada Fernando, Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Sonal Dinusha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Nishan Peiris, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)

Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)