Australia edged closer to sealing a series victory over Sri Lanka as Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon took seven wickets each on day three in Galle. (More Cricket News)
Angelo Mathews (76) and Kusal Mendis (48 not out) had breathed l💧ife into the second Test with a 70-run partnership, but Beau Webster's late 💖wicket put the tourists on the brink.
Alex Carey and Steve Smith's magnifice𒅌nt partnership of 259 ended less than 20 minutes into the day's play, with the latter bowled out by Prabath Jayasuriya (5-151).
Australia's lower order could only add 84 r🔯uns to their overnight total, with Webster (31) top scoring for the tourists as they built up a lead of 157 runs over Sri Lanka.
However, the hosts slumped to 39-3 by the 14th over, with🐓 Pathum Nissanka (eight), Dimuth Karunaratne (14) and Dinesh Chandimal (12) falling in the opening exchanges.
Chandimal was bowled out by Lyon, who claimed his 550th Test wicket, with the spinner following that🌠 up with the important dismissals of Mathews and Kamindu🌊 Mendis (14).
Jayasuriya fell on the final ball of the♒ session, handing Sri Lanka a lead of 54 runs with two wickets remaining, with Australia on course to seal the series on day four.
Data Debrief: Australia's bowlers do the damage
Australia know that only a monumental effort from Sri Lanka can halt their chances of a 2-0 series victory, with their bowlers starring on d﷽ay three in Galle.
Lyon has now taken 550 Test wܫickets for Australia, only behind Glenn McGrath (563) and Shane Warne (708) on the all-time ཧlist for the Aussies, while he ranks seventh among bowlers to have taken the most wickets in the format.
But the foundations were laid by Carey and Smith's partnership. In another batting record for Aus🐼tralia in this series, it was the highest fourth-wicket partnership by a visiting pair in Sri Lanka in Tests, bettering the 258🍨-stand between Michael Hussey and Shaun Marsh in Pallekele in 2011.
Car🦋ey also overtook his highest first-class score of 143 in style with a firm sweep that rocketed to the boundary, moving past Adam Gilchrist's 144 as the highest score by an Australian wicketkeeper in A🎃sia.
