10.4 big, big lbw appeal, but the umpire is unmoved! Fizzed through on a length on middle and off. Marsh gets caught on the crease and then dabs it away with bat and pad very close together. SL reckon the ball has clipped the pad first and gosh, they are right. The first impact is on the back leg, and Marsh might have to walk here. Ball tracking comes up and...it is missing leg. And off. Because it is clattering into middle. Marsh has to go, and SL on the charge now! 116/3

8.3 finally a slice, and the crowd erupts! Hemantha roars just as loudly, and SL badly needed that wicket! Changes the angle of attack and throws it up on a full length wide outside off. Head goes after it but the bat face just opens a shade upon contact. Kamindu moves to his right from long off and holds on, despite a bit of a bobble. Head departs after a tone-setting fifty, but has the damage already been done? 104/1

9.6 stumped all ends up, and Green perishes! Speared in full and wide, perhaps as a riposte to anticipating the batter's charge. Green hares down and is nowhere near the pitch of the ball. Too far away from it laterally too and he swishes at thin air. Mendis collects, takes off the bails, and SL threatening to apply the brakes now! 110/2

12.4 a terrible shank, and David perishes too! The crowd are having a roaring party now! Kamindu dangles it up on middle and off, and David bites. Loses his shape, though, and cuts across it a little too much. Long off settles under it and gobbles up the chance. Australia four down, and sliding! 130/4

17.5 sharp bumper on off, and Inglis is outta here! This climbs up and causes Inglis all sorts of problems as he tries to swipe it away. Probably not expecting that ball too and he is awfully late on the stroke. The ball skews up of the top edge and Wellalage, running in from backward point, makes no mistake, despite the close attendance of his keeper. Australia six down now! 174/6

16.1 oh goodness gracious me - put a cape on Pathum Nissanka! Talk about redemption, and that will go down as one of the greatest catches this World Cup will see! Flighted up full outside off. Maxwell thinks the ball is there for the reverse hit and to be fair to him, it is too. He hits in the air too and that is all Nissanka needs at backward point. He channels his inner superhero, flies to his left and somehow makes it stick with both hands in front of his face while being horizontal to the ground. Magnificent grab, and Maxwell (like thousands of others) cannot quite fathom what has just happened! 160/5

19.3 sliced and pouched, and they are now dancing in the stands! Still a lot of cricket to be played, of course, but there is palpable excitement among the SL bunch. And why not. This is a slower ball on a length outside off. Stoinis throws the lot at it but only musters an outside edge that is snared by Theekshana at short third, diving to his right. Can Australia even get to 185? 180/8

18.3 goes straight up, and Theekshana has a wicket too! This is an off-spinner and tossed up nicely on a length on middle. Connolly has an ungainly mow across the line, and the ball holds and straightens enough to skew off the top edge. Short third tracks it all the way to his right and then completes the catch with a slight tumble. SL keep chipping away! 177/7

19.5 another dot! And Bartlett gets run out trying to pinch a bye! Slower ball on a fullish length outside off. Ellis swings like a rusty gate and misses it completely. Mendis takes aim, hits the stumps at the batter's end and that will be that with the bat for Bartlett tonight! 180/9

19.6 a run out to end the innings, and Australia stutter and stumble to 181! Back of a length on middle and off. Zampa punches it to sweeper cover. Comes back for the second but that was always fraught with immense danger. Nowhere near the crease in the end as Mendis collects and whips off the bails, and this has been a roaring comeback by Sri Lanka! 181/10

1.2 sliced way up, and Stoinis provides Australia with the early breakthrough! Back of a length, angling across the batter outside off. Perera backs away and in the end, backs away too much. Throws everything at it but all he manages is a tame slice that is snaffled up by deep backward point. Australia on the board in the second over! 8/1

12.2 shanked high into the air, and Stoinis comes up trump for Australia again! And you can now hear a pin drop in Pallekele. This is in the slot on middle and off. Seems like Kusal does not quite read the slower one. Swings at it and only gets the height he wants. Connolly does the rest at deep mid wicket, and that is a timely breakthrough for the 2021 champions! 105/2