Starc, Lyon rattle Sri Lanka's top order

'The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind,' pronounced Bob Dylan in his 1962 anti-war song. The question, too, comes from a derivation of his song - 'For how long will the Sri Lankans persist with their openers, before they are dropped?'

If Sri Lanka were indeed finding it difficult to overcome the troubles of a transition phase, one of the concerns that was being overlooked for long was the inconsistency of their opening pair. The top order collapse, however, was more prominent in the third and final Test of the series that Sri Lanka lead 2-0 as the hosts went into lunch on the opening day at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Saturday (August 13) on 55 for 5 after Angelo Mathews won the toss and elected to bat for the third time in the series.

In the five innings played by the Sri Lankan openers in the ongoing series against Australia, Kaushal Silva has registered numbers as modest as 4,7,5,2 and 0, while Dimuth Karunaratne's numbers have read - 5,0,0,7 and 7.

It isn't simply about the ongoing series. The mediocrity of their performance have stayed on for over a year. In the last 12 months, Silva has played 10 Tests, averaging 19. Karunaratne has fared slightly better, averaging 27.6 in 12 matches. If there was any consolation, the opening pair lasted 28 balls - the most they have managed in the series.

Only this time, the magnitude of the top-order collapse was far more grave. Mitchell Starc started off with three full length delivery, before getting the ball to pitch slightly behind. Hazlewood, on the other hand, bowled in the 'corridor of uncertainty', with a bit of extra bounce to assist him early in the day.

Russell Arnold had said in his pitch report, "It's a dry pitch, the cracks are evident. The fast bowlers will have a point to prove, spinners will have the bigger say though. Winning the toss and batting first is crucial."

Sri Lanka did just that, but failed to take advantage of the conditions.

Australia started out with three slips, a gully, a point and a mid off fielder.

Silva fell without troubling the scorers in his 15-ball uncomfortable stay at the crease by trying to drive a full delivery wide of the the off stump. He ended up getting an outside edge which flew to Steve Smith at slips. With two left-handers at the crease, Nathan Lyon was introduced into the attack in the sixth over.

The offspinner managed to get turn and bounce from round the wicket to the left-handed duo of Karunaratne and Kusal Perera. While the former hung on, playing with a straight bat, the latter managed to keep the scoreboard ticking with three boundaries, before ending up edging the ball to Smith at slips.

Karunaratne, who had managed only seven runs in his 34-ball stay, yet again became a victim to Starc - for the fifth time in the series. In the first over after drinks, the pacer angled the ball in from wide of the crease and the left-hander got a thick inside edge while looking to drive it. The stumps shattered as the hosts were reduced to 23 for 3.

The procession of wickets continued after the break. Angelo Mathews, who went for a sweep off Lyon, got a top edge and Starc took a superb forward diving catch running in from long leg. To make it three wickets in three overs, Starc got Kusal Mendis to edge a full delivery to Smith at second slip and got the scoreboard reading 26 for 5 with 40 minutes remaining for lunch.

With more bounce on offer, Lyon became all the more potent than he was in the previous two matches. Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjay de Silva did a good resurrection act, but not without being troubled by the turn and bounce of the offspinner. They were beaten time and again, but managed to stay safe. De Silva was even given out - caught by forward short leg - but the batsman reviewed umpire Chris Gaffaney's decision to continue his stay at the crease.

While de Silva went on the backfoot to play Lyon from deep within the crease, Chandimal resorted to employing the sweep shot against the offspinner.

Jon Holland was brought into the attack in the 25th over. But the left-arm spinner bowled too full in his two overs to cause much trouble to the duo. Their unbeaten 29-run stand - the highest in Sri Lanka's innings so far - kept the hosts in the game with much to do in the second session.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 55 for 5 (Dhananjay de Silva 23*; Mitchell Starc 3-10, Nathan Lyon 2-21) vs Australia.