Sri Lanka dismissed for 156 before tea on day 1 of 2nd test against Australia

By Neil Frankland

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MELBOURNE, Australia — Mitchell Johnson claimed four wickets to lead a devastating Australian bowling attack as Sri Lanka was dismissed for a paltry 156 just before tea Wednesday on the opening day of the second cricket test against Australia.

Kumar Sangakkara smashed a defiant 58, including his 10,000th test run before becoming Johnson’s third wicket of the day as Sri Lanka squandered its opportunities after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Left-armed paceman Johnson (4-63) narrowly missed a hat trick when he had Prasanna Jayawardene caught by Phillip Hughes at third slip for 24 while fending off a short ball, then had Dhammika Prasad caught behind the next ball.

The dismissal of Prasanna Jayawardene broke up a promising 35-run partnership with Sangakkara and exposed the Sri Lankan tailenders to an increasingly confident Australian pace attack.

Seam bowler Jackson Bird secured his first wicket in his maiden test in the fourth over of the match to spark a top-order collapse when Dimuth Karunaratne lunged forward and was caught behind for 5.

Peter Siddle returned figures of 2-30, while spin bowler Nathan Lyon mopped up the Sri Lankan tail to finish with 2-23.

Johnson, sharing the new ball with Bird, bowled Tillakaratne Dilshan for 11 a short time later and Siddle chimed in with the wicket of captain Mahela Jayawardene (3) to leave the visitors reeling at 37-3.

Bird claimed his second test wicket straight after lunch when Thilan Samaraweera offered a top edge to David Warner at mid-wicket for 10 and Siddle struck again when Mike Hussey made an athletic, one-handed catch at second slip to dismiss vice-captain Angelo Mathews for 15.

Sangakkara reached the 10,000-run mark in 195 innings, equaling the record previously shared by Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar tops the test run scorers list with 15,645.

Sangakkara averages more than 55 runs in a career spanning 115 tests. The only other Sri Lankan to have made more than 10,000 test runs is Jayawardene.

Earlier, Australia named skipper Michael Clarke to play despite the hamstring injury he suffered in last week’s first test in Hobart.

“I’d call myself 100 per cent (fit),” Clarke said during the coin toss. “If I couldn’t have turned up today and performed at my best, I wouldn’t have been playing.”

23:33ET 25-12-12