Angelo Mathews was left dumbfounded after his decision to bat first backfired in rather spectacular fashion, as Mitchell Starc and Lyon carved open the top-order, reducing them to 26 for 5. The excellent start however, made way for frustration on the field for Australia as Dhananjaya de Silva notched up his maiden Test century while Dinesh Chandimal scored a fifty. The pair added an undefeated partnership of 188 runs for the sixth wicket, dragging the hosts past 200 at stumps.
Lyon, who bowled 34 overs on a hot day, had a few words of praise for the batsmen. "(We were) lucky enough to take five early wickets but you should give credit to the two guys batting. They have batted outstandingly and they are in a good partnership," Lyon said on Saturday (August 13), at the end day one of the third and final Test. "So we have to come back tomorrow and start the grind again. The game is not out of our depth, that's for sure.
"To be honest I was proud of all our bowlers today. That was hot today, a good test to all our bowlers," he added.
Lyon also felt there was a lesson to be learnt from Sri Lanka's defiant display of batting in a tricky situation.
"I dare say that's a big key why Sri Lanka have been 2-0 up in the series, for the ability of their batsmen to bat in partnerships and for a long period of time. We have spoken about it and our batsmen have all got their plans to come out in this Test match and hopefully bat long for periods," Lyon said.
Having given Sri Lanka enough credit, Lyon was quick to note that all wasn't lost for the visitors. Despite the commendable rescue act from Dhananjaya and Chandimal, the opening day's honours were still shared.
"If you go anywhere in the world and say at stumps 210 for 5 (214 for 5) after them winning the toss and batting first, it's a big tick, so we are in a fight and that's the best thing about it," Lyon concluded.
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