HOBART — Peter Siddle grabbed five wickets to help Australia to a 141-run lead at the end of the third day of the first Test Sunday but only after a brilliant 147 from Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan had stalled the host for much of the day. Openers Ed Cowan (16) and David Warner (eight) added 27 without loss to Australia's first innings tally of 450-5 declared before the close of play, despite a rain disruption and some tight bowling from the Sri Lankans. Opener Dilshan earlier put on 161 in a record partnership with all-rounder Angelo Mathews (75) to drive the tourists to 336 all out after they had resumed in a big hole at 87-4 in the morning. Siddle finally separated them when he trapped Mathews lbw before tea after two sessions of frustration for Australia, which were compounded by an injury to seamer Ben Hilfenhaus. Dilshan followed soon afterward — the victim of a superb yorker from left-armer Mitchell Starc — and Siddle then skittled the tail to finish with figures of 5-54. Hilfenhaus managed just two balls of the eighth over of the day before pulling up with a side strain and being taken to hospital for scans. Barring a couple of run-out chances and a few loose shots, the remaining Australian bowlers failed to create many opportunities early in the day on a good Hobart track. Dilshan, resuming on 50, had to temper his aggressive instincts but moved steadily toward his 15th Test century, spending a nervous half an hour in the nineties before finally reaching the hundred with his 16th four. Siddle finally made the breakthrough when he sent down a delivery that caught Mathews on the back leg with the TV umpire confirming upon appeal that the ball would have clipped the top of the middle stump. The 161-run partnership was the highest for Sri Lanka in Australia, beating the 144 Aravinda da Silva and Ravi Ratnayeke put on for the seventh wicket at Brisbane in 1998. Dilshan's departure on the 273rd ball he faced precipitated something of a collapse for the tourists with the last four wickets tumbling for the addition of just 47 runs.— Reuters
Scoreboard
Australia (1st innings) 450 for 5 declared. Sri Lanka (1st innings) Karunaratne c Wade b Hilfenhaus 14 T. Dilshan b Starc 147 K. Sangakkara c Hussey b Siddle 04 M. Jayawardene lbw b Watson 12 T. Samaraweera c Wade b Lyon 07 A. Mathews lbw b Siddle 75 P. Jayawardene lbw b Siddle 40 N. Kulasekara c Silk (sub) b Lyon 23 R. Herath lbw b Siddle 00 S. Eranga not out 05 C. Welegedara c Hussey b Siddle 00 Extras (2b, 6lb, 1nb) 09 Total (all out, 109.3 overs) 336 Falls: 1-25 (Karunaratne), 2-42 (Sangakkara), 3-70 (M. Jayawardene), 4-87 (Samaraweera), 5-248 (Mathews), 6-289 (Dilshan), 7-316 (P. Jayawardene), 8-320 (Herath), 9-336 (Kulasekara), 10-336 (Welegedara). Bowling: Starc 24-3-104-1, Hilfenhaus 12.2-3-30-1, Lyon 25-8-76-2, Siddle 25.3-11-54-5 (1nb), Watson 20.4-5-55-1, Clarke 2-0-9-0. Australia (2nd innings) E. Cowan not out 16 D. Warner not out 08 Extras (lb1, nb2) 03 Total (0 wkt, 14 overs) 27 Bowling: Kulasekara 6-3-10-0 (1nb), Welegedara 5-1-10-0 (1nb), Dilshan 2-0-2-0, Eranga 1-0-4-0.
