PALLEKELE : Shaun Marsh was 13 runs away from a century on his debut and
Mike Hussey hit an unbeaten 76 as Australia piled on Sri Lanka's misery
in the second Test in Pallekele on Friday.The West
Australian pair put on 148 for the unbroken fourth wicket as the
tourists moved to a commanding 264-3 in their first innings when bad
light halted play soon after tea.Marsh was on 87 and Hussey
followed his match-winning 95 in the first Test in Galle with another
half-century as Australia built a 90-run lead with seven wickets still
in hand.The pair joined forces after Sri Lanka had grabbed
three quick wickets in the morning session to restrict Australia to
116-3 in reply to their own 174.Former Australian opener
Geoff Marsh looked on from the stands as his 28-year-old son mastered
the Sri Lankan attack with 11 boundaries after a dour start.Marsh
had come into the Test side in place of former captain Ricky Ponting,
who had to return home after Galle for the birth of his second child.The
knock will help the left-hander cement his place in the team even when
Ponting returns for the third and final Test in Colombo from September
16.Marsh drove Suranga Lakmal through the covers and then
chipped debutant leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna over mid-on to take
Australia past Sri Lanka's total.Two successive boundaries off Prasanna, a lofted shot and a straight drive, gave Marsh his half-century from 133 deliveries.Hussey
reached his second half-century of the series by smashing off-spinner
Suraj Randiv to the square-leg fence for his sixth boundary.The
hosts missed their two first-choice spinners, Ajantha Mendis and
Rangana Herath, who were forced to skip the match with injuries.Sri
Lankan captain Tillakaratne Dilshan tried seven bowlers, including
part-timers Kumar Sangakkara and Thilan Samaraweera, to try to contain
the tourists.Sangakkara, who had gone wicketless in 98
previous Tests and has just one first-class wicket to his credit, also
bowled the first over with the second new ball.Australia
lost Shane Watson before they had added to their overnight score of 60
for no loss, and the other opener Phil Hughes fell shortly after the
drinks break.Watson had made 36 when he left alone a delivery from seamer Lakmal that dipped in to uproot his off-stumpLeft-hander
Hughes carried his overnight score of 23 to 36 before he was snapped up
at forward short-leg by Tharanga Paranavitana off Randiv.It
soon became 116-3 as skipper Michael Clarke (13) attempted to drive
seamer Chanaka Welegedara outside the off-stump and edged a low catch to
Mahela Jayawardene at second slip.Clarke has now gone 22 Test innings without a century since making 168 against New Zealand at Wellington in March last year.Australia lead 1-0 in the three-match series, Clarke's first as captain, having won the first Test by 125 runs last week.
