It’s hard to judge whether Australia are planning to chase all the way to the end of day five in Colombo, but they’ve at least made a positive start in pursuit of the massive victory target to win the third Test against Sri Lanka.
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Perera dismissed Marsh for 23 when the batsman defended a delivery and Kusal Mendis thrust out his hands at forward short leg to parry the ball and twisted his body backwards to complete a stunning catch.
Smith, who scored 119 runs in the first innings, has retained his number-one ranking.
Warner, who got Australia away to a swift start with three fours and a six, had reached 44 off 64 balls by the interval.
Mathews fell to Lyon (4-123) in the second session but Silva added 90 runs with Chandimal (43) for the sixth wicket to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position.
The 38-year-old Herath, who bowled with an injured groin in Colombo, remained the team’s go-to man throughout the series, claiming 28 wickets in the three matches.
Dilruwan Perera, the off-spinner, picked up two wickets while Moises Henriques was run out as Sri Lanka’s spinners continued to maintain their stranglehold over the Australian batsmen.
Herath was the star bowler in the series against Australia.
Centuries from skipper Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh had given Australia hope of a big first innings lead on Monday but their departure saw the visitors lose their last seven wickets for 104 runs to be all out for 379 in response to Sri Lanka’s 355.
Sri Lanka’s Kaushal Silva celebrates scoring a hundred against Australia during the fourth day of the third test cricket match in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Aug. 16.
Coach Darren Lehmann wants his Australia players to feel “embarrassed” by their loss to Sri Lanka and learn the lessons of failure.
Australia are unbeaten in home Test series since losing to South Africa in December 2012, but have struggled further afield.
The teams now head into the first of the five ODIs scheduled for August 21. “He was fantastic with one leg, one leg was enough for him”.
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For Pakistan, this is the second time in less than a year that they have peaked to number-two position. “He has been a great team man as well”, Mathews said after the end of the third Test.
