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Marsh and Smith hundreds bolster Australia

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Tea Australia 316 for 4 (Voges 22*, M Marsh 17*) trail Sri Lanka 355 by 39 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh both raised centuries on the third day in Colombo © AFP

Shaun Marsh and Steven Smith both registered centuries on the third day in Colombo, before Sri Lanka fought back by claiming a string of wickets with the second new ball. The series might be decided at the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy ready for presentation to Angelo Mathews, but Smith and Marsh at least reduced the chances of a whitewash with their 246-run partnership.

It was the fourth-highest stand for any Australian pair for any wicket in a Test in Asia, and although both men had departed by the tea break, they had given Australia a reasonable chance of a first-innings lead. Three wickets fell in the post-lunch session, which ended with Adam Voges on 22 and Mitchell Marsh on 17, and Australia trailed by 39 runs, having reached 316 for 4.

Rangana Herath, who left the field in the morning session as he continued to struggle with the pain of being struck in the groin while batting on day two, picked up two of the wickets after lunch, and Suranga Lakmal claimed the other. But the highlight of the session was Kusal Perera’s brilliant wicketkeeping work. Twice within five overs Perera stumped Australian batsmen off Herath, his hands moving so quickly that they still looked fast on slow-motion replays.

Smith was the first of the two victims, drawn forward by Herath and found by the third umpire to have dragged his foot fractionally outside the crease when Perera whipped the bails off. The second such dismissal was that of Moises Henriques, included for the fourth Test of his career and his first in more than three years. He never looked comfortable, and fell in similar fashion for 4, the victim of Perera’s lightning glovework.

It meant that three wickets had fallen within the first 10 overs of the new ball, Lakmal having already accounted for Shaun Marsh, who chopped on for 130 from 281 deliveries. That ended the long partnership with Smith, who finished on 119 from 218 balls a few overs later.

Their stand was just the second time in the past decade that an Australian pair had produced a double-century partnership in Asia and the other occasion also featured Marsh: on debut against Sri Lanka in Pallekele in 2011 he had put on 258 with Michael Hussey for the fourth wicket.

Since then Marsh has been the source of great frustration for Australia, his obvious talent and his ability to score Test centuries offset by frequent troughs in his scoring. That this is his 18th Test and yet his seventh stint in the side shows that the selectors appreciate his potential but have often been vexed by his inconsistency.

But at 33, Marsh might just be pushing his case for a lengthy stay in the side. His hundred in Colombo is his second from consecutive Test innings, though they have come eight months apart – in December he was dropped after making 182 against West Indies in Hobart, where he had been an injury replacement for Usman Khawaja.

Marsh used his feet well throughout this innings, working the ball through gaps along the ground, and it could hardly be a finer audition for a place in Australia’s line-up for next year’s Test tour of India. His hundred – the fourth of his Test career – came up with a boundary swept fine off Dilruwan Perera from his 214th delivery.

Smith’s century, the 15th of his career and his first in Asia, came up soon afterwards from his 176th ball when he advanced and clipped Perera through midwicket. Like Marsh, Smith has used his feet well in this match and he was strong through both cover and midwicket.

Sri Lanka’s morning did bring at least one chance, though it was a tough one: on 67, Marsh got a thick edge to slip off Herath, but Mathews could do little but get his hand to the ball. On 84, Marsh survived a close lbw shout off Perera that was turned down on field: replays showed the ball had pitched and struck him in line, but was umpire’s call for impact on off stump.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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