The mighty partnership between Steve Smith (120*) and Alex Carey (139*) helped Australia to take a lead by 73 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Galle International Stadium.
Australia's star batsman Steve Smith reached his 36th Test ton, equalling the record of Joe Root and Rahul Dravid. Smith, who is also captaining the Australian cricket team due to Pat Cummins absence, kept his form going on the day two of the Test match. During his stay on the crease, he shared a 239-run stand with Alex Carey, propelling Australia well past the 300-run milestone. Sri Lanka were bundled out for 257/10 while batting first at the start of day two.
The afternoon session on day two for Sri Lanka was quite promising, with Nishan Peiris' arm-ball sending Usman Khawaja back. However, it was not for too long as Aussie captain Steve Smith and Alex Carey stayed on the crease for long, and built a strong partnership for the fourth wicket. The duo's expert use of feet made matters worse for the home squad. Both batters took advantage of the bad balls, scoring an impressive 112 runs in the session.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=Dailyhuntapp&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-12&features=eyJ0ZndfdGltZWxpbmVfbGlzdCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOltdLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2ZvbGxvd2VyX2NvdW50X3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9iYWNrZW5kIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19yZWZzcmNfc2Vzc2lvbiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZm9zbnJfc29mdF9pbnRlcnZlbnRpb25zX2VuYWJsZWQiOnsiYnVja2V0Ijoib24iLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X21peGVkX21lZGlhXzE1ODk3Ijp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRyZWF0bWVudCIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3Nob3dfYmlyZHdhdGNoX3Bpdm90c19lbmFibGVkIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6Im9uIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH0sInRmd19kdXBsaWNhdGVfc2NyaWJlc190b19zZXR0aW5ncyI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdXNlX3Byb2ZpbGVfaW1hZ2Vfc2hhcGVfZW5hYmxlZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdmlkZW9faGxzX2R5bmFtaWNfbWFuaWZlc3RzXzE1MDgyIjp7ImJ1Y2tldCI6InRydWVfYml0cmF0ZSIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfbGVnYWN5X3RpbWVsaW5lX3N1bnNldCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOnRydWUsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9LCJ0ZndfdHdlZXRfZWRpdF9mcm9udGVuZCI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJvbiIsInZlcnNpb24iOm51bGx9fQ%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1887830565224951931&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fm.dailyhunt.in%2Fnews%2Findia%2Fenglish%2Ffor%2Byou%3Flaunch%3Dtrue%26mode%3Dpwa&sessionId=dbf79ef8a914068c0398c658c0f473cb1900baae&siteScreenName=Dailyhuntapp&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px
Steve Smith and Alex Carey en-route to create trouble for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka had a bad start to the series as they lost to Australia by an innings and 242 runs in the first Test. And when Sri Lanka had control in the second Test, a strong partnership between Smith and Carey changed the momentum completely. Smith walked in to the pitch when Australia were 37/2 following the early dismissals of Travis Head (21) and Marnus Labuschange (4).
The Australian skipper survived the early lbw shout on his first ball, but ball-tracking revealed that the ball was likely to miss the stumps when Sri Lanka requested a review. He struck on his sixth delivery and began his innings with a boundary against Parabath Jayasuriya, utilising his feet and flicking him to mid-wicket before he dominated his way to his 36th Test ton. Carey, who scored his second Test hundred, is the second Australian wicket-keeper after Adam Gilchrist to get a three-figure score on Asian soil.
For Sri Lanka, who got all out for 257 in the first innings, this is a crucial Test match to level the two-match series. Australia, on the other hand, is looking to do their best to win the Test series in the island country after a long wait of 14 years. Although the team is missing some of the top players, it still looks tough on the host team.
