Australia may have a fight on their hands to seal a rare subcontinent series win against Sri Lanka after a see-sawing first day of the second Test in Galle. But the hosts showed improvement from their dismal series opener , finally able to piece together partnerships on a dusty wicket already offering plenty of turn.
They finished the day at for nine, with the deck likely to become very tricky for batters as the Test goes on. Kusal Mendis 59 and Lahiru Kumara 0 were unbeaten at the crease, the former batting with the kind of tenacity rarely seen from Sri Lanka in the first Test.
Lyon was the chief protagonist in a collapse of four wickets for 34 runs towards the end of the day that helped Australia regain control after Sri Lanka had won an important toss and gone to lunch at one for 87 largely thanks to Dinesh Chandimal Australia had to work hard for their breakthroughs either side of that collapse, bringing to mind the decision to drop third front-line spinner Todd Murphy.
Australia axed Murphy to hand a Test debut to allrounder Cooper Connolly , who will provide extra batting firepower in the tough conditions but bowled only three overs on the first day of his Test career.
He bowled around the wicket and snuck past the bat of retiring opener Dimuth Karunaratne 36 to break an impressive run stand with Chandimal. Fellow veteran, Angelo Mathews, who made just one off 26 balls, never looked comfortable replacing Karunaratne and walked immediately after edging Lyon to Alex Carey. Lyon is now only one wicket away from becoming the seventh man to reach Test scalps, and the third Australian after Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath Starc came within inches of a hat-trick as he broke a run partnership between Kusal and Ramesh Mendis 28 that had pulled Sri Lanka back off the canvas after tea.
