Mathews, who hasn't exactly touched top form in recent times, wasn't in any mood to squander the advantage that Sri Lanka had gained on the back of the 108-run partnership strung together for the third wicket by Mendis and Perera. The Sri Lankan skipper attuned himself to the humid conditions well and dictated the tempo from the word go.
The way he danced down the track and lofted Nathan Lyon handsomely over long-on for a six in the 37th over of the innings gave an inkling of what was to come. The aggressive all-rounder checked in a series of reverse sweeps and lofts to never allow the scoring rate to stall and more importantly, not let the spinners settle into their work.
If Mathews looked to crunch a few lusty blows, then Mendis with nimble feet and fast hands, hustled the fielders to keep the scorecard moving. From time to time, he poked with leaden feet at full length deliveries bowled by Starc. He also survived an LBW verdict in the 43rd over off Hazlewood after he elected to review and on replays it indicated that the ball would miss the leg-stump.
Barring those few close shaves, Mendis played with an unflappable temperament. He was eventually dismissed by Starc who swung it away from the middle-order batsman to elicit the outside edge. Hazlewood followed it up by tempting Chandimal to flick a good length ball uppishly straight to the fielder at short midwicket.
Starc again bowled a few noteworthy spells and generated reverse swing from round the wicket. He also looked to use the crease to sow seeds of doubt in the batsmen's minds and was finally rewarded with the big scalp of Mendis. Incidentally, it turned out to be his 100th Test wicket. Hazlewood too got it to reverse, but unlike his pace colleague, couldn't find the extra nip. However, the tourists would be a tad disappointed with Lyon's lack of incisiveness.
At the start of the day, after Sri Lanka opted to bat, Starc bowled a zestful spell with the new ball to dislodge both Dimuth Karunaratne (0) and Kaushal Silva (5) to leave the hosts wobbling at 9 for 2. The 28-year-old left-handed opening batsman walked back to the pavilion with a forlorn look on his face after he flicked the very first delivery off the match bowled by Starc straight into the hands of Joe Burns stationed at midwicket.
Starc compounded Sri Lanka's problem by dismissing Silva in the fifth over. The opener had produced an eye-popping pull shot off the left-arm pacer before edging a full length delivery, well away from the body, behind the stumps. Mendis, though, for the second time in the series, gauged the pace of the wicket quite quickly and chose calculation over taking risks to compile a well-constructed knock and lift them to safer waters.
Mendis was ably assisted by Perera. The aggressive left-handed batsman rode his luck a bit early on in his innings. However, it was a testament to his resolve that he was able to withstand testing spells from the impressive duo of Hazlewood and Starc. As the session progressed, he bristled with intent at the crease to remain unbeaten at lunch.
The only chance he offered was when he charged down the track and slogged a tossed up delivery off the debutant, Jon Holland, towards Lyon at midwicket. However, despite the offspinner making a desperate attempt, he couldn't cling onto the catch.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 216/5 (Kusal Mendis 86, Angelo Mathews 49*; Mitchell Starc 3-44) vs Australia.
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