Australia closed in on a convincing victory in the first Test in Galle on Friday after Sri Lanka's top order was ripped apart for a second time. Sri Lanka, set an improbable target of 379 to win on a crumbling wicket, were tottering at 120-5 at the close of the third day's play at the Galle International Stadium. Former captain Mahela Jayawardene provided a batting lesson for his team-mates, making an unbeaten 57 with the help of eight boundaries.
Angelo Mathews was the other not out batsman on 32, having put on 52 runs for the sixth wicket with his senior partner. Australia start the fourth day's play on Saturday needing five more wickets to win and take the lead in the three-Test series, their first in Sri Lanka since 2004.
Sri Lanka need to defy history to stop the tourists - the highest fourth innings score at the ground is 210 by New Zealand two years ago. The hosts, who were shot out for 105 in the first innings, succumbed to a hostile three-wicket burst by Ryan Harris and probing seam bowling from Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson. Harris trapped Tharanga Paranavitana leg-before with the first ball of the innings and then bowled Sri Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan in his fourth over to leave the hosts 15-2.
Scoreboard Australia 1st innings - 273 (R. Ponting 44, M. Hussey 95, S. Lakmal 3-55, R. Herath 3-54) Sri Lanka 1st innings - 105 (T. Paranavitana 29, N. Lyon 5-34, S. Watson 3-11)

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Australia 2nd innings (overnight 116-6):
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S. Watson c Samaraweera b Welegedara        0
P. Hughes lbw b Dilshan                    28
R. Ponting c Herath b Lakmal                4
M. Clarke c P. Jayawardene b Herath        60
M. Hussey c Paranavitana b Herath          15
Usman Khawaja lbw b Welegedara             26
B. Haddin c M. Jayawardene b Herath         0
M. Johnson c P. Jayawardene b Herath        8
R. Harris c and b Herath                   23
T. Copeland not out                        23
N. Lyon c Samaraweera b Dilshan            13
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Extras: (b4, lb4, nb2)                     10
Total: (all out, 59.2 overs)              210
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Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-5, 3-61, 4-110, 5-110, 6-112, 7-130, 8-170, 9-178, 10-210.
Bowling: Welegedara 6-3-13-2, Lakmal 8-3-23-1 (nb2), Herath 23-3-79-5, Randiv 14-3-61-0, Dilshan 8.2-1-26-2

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Sri Lanka 2nd innings:
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T. Paranavitana lbw b Harris                0
T. Dilshan b Harris                        12
K. Sangakkara c Hussey b Watson            17
M. Jayawardene not out                     57
T. Samaraweera c Haddin b Johnson           0
P. Jayawardene b Harris                     0
A. Mathews not out                         32
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Extras: (b1, lb1)                           2
Total: (for 5 wkts, 52 overs)             120
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Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-15, 3-52, 4-63, 5-68.
Bowling: Harris 9-2-24-3, Copeland 9-5-8-0, Johnson 10-3-20-1, Lyon 12-2-41-0, Clarke 2-0-6-0, Watson 8-4-14-1, Ponting 2-0-5-0
Result: Australia need five wickets to win
Toss: Australia
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Aleem Dar (PAK)
TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZL)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).