Clarke bats Australia into strong position

Sri Lanka v Australia, 3rd Test, Colombo, 5th day

 

Australia 316 and 303 for 4 (Hughes 126, Clarke 71*, Hussey 21*, Herath 4-91) lead Sri Lanka 473 by 146 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A captain's innings from Michael Clarke all but snuffed out Sri Lanka's hopes of victory at the SSC in Colombo, where Australia's lead had swollen to 146 runs at lunch on the final day. A draw would be enough for Australia to take the series 1-0, and to prevent that scenario Sri Lanka needed to force a collapse straight after the break and then chase a target.

The hosts needed several wickets in the first session but they only managed one, when Rangana Herath picked up his fourth victim, the centurion Phillip Hughes, who added just four runs to his overnight score. Hughes fell for 126 when he top-edged a sweep off Herath but none of the other bowlers looked like breaking through as Clarke and Michael Hussey aimed to put the game beyond Sri Lanka's reach.

At lunch, Clarke was unbeaten on 71 and Hussey had 21, and their partnership had reached 83 as Australia batted on to 303 for 4. Clarke was especially impressive, batting precisely the way a captain should in such circumstances, first and foremost guarding his wicket fiercely, but also ticking the scoreboard over to add to Sri Lanka's problems.

At one point, he was 24 from 80 deliveries, but he lifted his rate as the session wore on, twice advancing down the pitch to Herath to drive him down the ground for six. The second of those sixes brought up Clarke's half-century from his 97th ball, and the boundaries kept coming against some lacklustre seam bowling.

It has been 18 months since Clarke's last Test hundred, but triple figures was within sight by lunch, as Australia aimed to push their lead up past 200 and completely eliminate Sri Lanka's hopes of victory. And should Clarke achieve that, it will have been a fine way to mark his first series as Australia's Test captain.