Nathan Lyon shines as Australia hold minor advantage over SL

13 wickets fell on the first day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia. Hosts Sri Lanka were all out for 212 after winning the toss. Australia in reply ended the day of 98/3, trailing by 114 runs and have 7 wickets in hand.

Sri Lanka were under the pump from the get go of the innings. The first breakthrough was given by captain Pat Cummins, when he nicked off Pathum Nissanka. Kusal Mendis lost his wicket to Mitchell Starc. After lunch, captain Karunaratne became offspinner Nathan Lyon's first victim.

The hosts were really in a spot of bother when Swepson removed Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal in consecutive deliveries. With Sri Lanka stumbling at 97/5, Niroshan Dickwella came in to bat. 

Dickwella's counter attacking 58 of 59 deliveries gave the Lankans some respite. His efforts, and Matthews and Ramesh Mendis' knock of 39 and  22 respectively took Sri Lanka to a score of 212. Lyon picked up 5 wickets, and Swepson chipped in with 3 scalps.

Australia started off at a quick rate, as Usman Khawaja and David Warner, particularly the latter looked to score quick runs. However, the rate fell off when Ramesh trapped Warner in the front pad to dismiss him.

Ramesh struck again to remove Marnus Labuschagne. A horrible mix up saw Steve Smith heading back to the pavilion as well. Australia ended the day with 98/3, with Khawaje and Travis head being unbeaten for 47 and 6 respectively.