Australia take charge in D/N Test vs Sri Lanka

Halfcenturies from Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne and a lastball strike by Pat Cummins put Australia firmly in command of the daynight Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba in Brisbane on FridayHead hit a Test best 84 and Labuschagne posted 81 as Australia amassed 323 to hold an imposing 179run innings lead over the Sri Lanka after the second day Sri Lanka lurched into further strife losing the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne on the last ball of the day by Cummins for three as the tourists had to negotiate a tricky six overs facing the pink ball under lightsAustralias Marnus Labuschagne celebrates his 50 runs during the second day of the daynight Test cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka at the Gabba in Brisbane on January 25 2019 PicAFPKarunaratne was snapped up behind by Tim Paine as Sri Lanka reached stumps at 17 for one with Lahiru Thirimanne on six to trail by 162 runs overall and battling to avoid defeat with three days left A massive wicketIts nice to get them one down and break the lefthanders up Head said I think the way Jhye Richardson and Pat bowled against the right handers yesterday by swinging the ball away we can put them under real pressure in the morning Head was trapped leg before wicket by Suranga Lakmal meaning no Australian batsman has scored a Test century in nine innings against India and Sri Lanka this summerTwo of us had opportunities today to go on and get a big score Head said Its disappointing to miss the chance to really drive the game and get a massive lead and be still with batters in the shed tonight Labuschagne was out shortly before dinner also with a maiden Test century beckoning His patient 150ball knock ended when he skipped down the wicket to lift a drive only to find the bottom of his bat and was taken at short midon by Thirimanne off Dhananjaya de SilvaSri Lanka grabbed a few wickets towards the end of Australias innings Cummins was unable to get off the mark in 21 balls before he was squared up by Dushmantha Chameera and tickled a catch behind to Niroshan DickwellaSkipper Paine was out first ball edging a Lakmal outswinger to Kusal Mendis at second slip for a splendid low catch and young Test newcomer Kurtis Patterson showed promising resilience to bat for 82 balls before he was lbw to Lakmal for 30 Mitchell Starc hit out lustily for 26 with four fours and a six before Jhye Richardson was the last wicket to fall for one Lakmal finished with five for 75 We are still in the game and we need to bat as long as we can and take a lead and put some pressure on Australia after tomorrow Lakmal saidI treasure the Australian five wickets because I always had a dream of achieving a fivewicket haul in Australia and its a dream come true Head and Labuschagne put on 166 runs for the fifth wicket to seize the momentum and put Australia in command after losing two wickets in the opening session chasing Sri Lankas modest 144I think the way myself and Marnus built that partnership put them under pressure to bat for a long period of time and put us in a commanding position Head said Marcus Harris was out in the first over of the day spooning a cut shot to Thirimanne at point off Lahiru Kumara for 44 after adding just four to his overnight score Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon was out three overs later for one caught at second slip by Mendis off Lakmal leaving the Australians at 82 for four in the 29th overThe Sri Lankans struggled to come to terms with the bouncy Gabba wicket after winning the toss on Thursdays opening day with only Dickwella showing any resistance hitting 64 from 78 balls Richardson who only came into the side after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out with injury had figures of 326 to lead an impressive Australian display with the ball Cummins chimed in to clean up the tail finishing with 439 The Brisbane Test is the first of a twomatch series against Sri LankaCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever