Sri Lanka vs Australia quick hits: Smith's freakish catch and Karunaratne's final knock

Amidst a collapse from the Australian team, Steve Smith continued to showcase his extraordinary abilities on the field. Concurrently, Sri Lankan player Dimuth Karunaratne officially bid farewell to his Test cricket career.

The Sri Lankan team bowled 55 consecutive balls without taking a single wicket on the second day. However, on the third day, they achieved a breakthrough in less than 5 balls, and twice. After 253 brilliant balls, the 254th ball allowed Steve Smith to give an opportunity, sending the ball into the hands of Kusal Mendis. Immediately afterward, Prabath Jayasuriya dismissed Josh Inglis, undoubtedly making him feel much better about his innings.

Suddenly, the Sri Lankan team sensed an opportunity to break through the lower order, and the touring team felt a hint of pressure. Soon after, Jayasuriya struck again, dismissing Alex Carey, his excellent morning bowling bringing the Sri Lankan team back into the game.

The Australian team's first innings score of 414 looked good, and in fact, it was. However, considering that Steve Smith and Alex Carey's total score reached 287 (30 more than Sri Lanka's total score), the tourists' lead of 157 indicated that there were still many opportunities missed. It proved to be a difficult pitch to start on, as evidenced by the situation on the third day. Josh Inglis, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Matthew Kuhnemann all failed to score more than single digits, and the Australian team's last seven wickets only scored 64 runs. Of the seven Australian wickets that fell on the morning of the third day, five were bowled out. Jayasuriya, who struggled in the first Test, became the main destroyer for the Sri Lankan team on the third day, eventually completing his 11th five-wicket haul of his career.

Dimuth Karunaratne hoped to end his career with a fairytale ending, but that hope was dashed when he was caught out on Matthew Kuhnemann's bowling, scoring 14 runs. Karunaratne looked fluent before edging a wide ball from Kuhnemann, which he sent into the hands of Carey. He immediately reviewed the decision, but UltraEdge confirmed the touch. After the TV umpire confirmed the decision, Karunaratne received a standing ovation from the few spectators in attendance. The Australian team also applauded him, and before leaving the field, he received a hug from his long-time teammate Dinesh Chandimal. Karunaratne retires with 7222 runs in 100 Test matches, the fourth-highest score among Sri Lankan male players and the highest among male openers.

After tea, the ball softened, and the pitch calmed down, and the partnership between Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva frustrated the Australian team. The former captain and the current captain seemed to be the key to leading the Sri Lankan team to match or even surpass Australia's first-innings lead of 157 runs, but before another captain separated them. Matt Kuhnemann bowled a ball that hit the seam and then spun down the line. Dhananjaya had no choice but to play at it and caught the outside edge of his forward defense. He played with soft hands, so the ball fell almost straight down, but Steve Smith got there in time. He dived forward with his right hand, taking a stunning reflex catch at first slip, as he has done so many times in Test matches for Australia (197 times to be exact), supporting his bowler.

The Sri Lankan team continued to suffer from false starts. Starting an innings on a pitch like Galle can be difficult – the ball spins, skids, keeps low, jumps up – and it takes time to get into a rhythm. But the Sri Lankan batsmen seemed to be doing well early on, but then just found ways to get out. In the four innings of this series, Sri Lankan batsmen have faced at least 30 balls in an innings 19 times. But only 5 have been converted into half-centuries (including No. 10 Jeffrey Vandersay's late-innings thrash in the second innings), and none have reached 100. Kusal Mendis was left unbeaten on 48 at stumps and will be the sixth to convert a start into a half-century. On a pitch where multiple Australian batsmen have already demonstrated that they can go big once they get in, getting set and then suddenly losing concentration is inexcusable, especially in your home conditions.