Galle, Feb 6 (IANS): Australia’s bowlers had to work hard on a challenging first day of the second Test in Galle as Sri Lanka fought back after a top-order collapse. After being reduced to 127/5, the hosts showed resilience, with Kusal Mendis (59 not out) and Dinesh Chandimal (74) leading the fightback.

Despite a brilliant spell from Nathan Lyon (3-78) and late strikes from Mitchell Starc (3-37), Sri Lanka managed to reach 229/9 at stumps. The pitch, expected to deteriorate further, saw occasional sharp turn but it was Australia’s consistency and skill that brought the wickets.

With one more Sri Lankan wicket to take, Australia will be aiming to wrap things up quickly on day two and take charge of the match. However, with the surface showing early signs of spin, Sri Lanka’s bowlers could make life difficult for the visitors when their turn comes.

The day started with plenty of speculation about how the Galle pitch would behave, especially after Sri Lanka’s innings and 242-run defeat in the first Test. The surface, though, didn’t crumble as anticipated but still provided enough turn to keep Australia interested.

Sri Lanka’s new opening pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka made a steady start before Lyon produced a beauty to dismiss the latter for 11, hitting the top of the leg stump after the batter shuffled too far across.

Despite some disciplined batting from Sri Lanka, Australia’s bowlers clawed back control after lunch with a devastating spell from Lyon and Starc.

After lunch, Lyon struck gold, dismissing Karunaratne (36) and Angelo Mathews (1) in quick succession. Karunaratne, playing his 100th and final Test, had received a guard of honour from both teams before stepping out to bat. But his farewell innings ended when a quicker Lyon delivery zipped past his defence to rattle the stumps.

Mathews, who struggled to get off the mark, faced 25 balls for his single run before edging a Lyon delivery to Alex Carey behind the stumps.

Sri Lanka’s middle-order collapse continued, with Kamindu Mendis falling for 13, courtesy of a sharp off-break from Travis Head, who has been proving his golden arm with the ball. Head’s celebration - mimicking flames from his spinning fingers - fired up the Australians. Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva fell for a golden duck, edging Starc straight to gully in the very next over.

From a promising 93/1, Sri Lanka slumped to 127/5 and Australia looked set for another dominant bowling performance.

Just when Sri Lanka seemed down and out, Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis combined for a gritty fightback. Chandimal played a counterattacking innings of 74, but his resistance was ended by Matthew Kuhnemann, with Carey completing a sharp stumping after Chandimal was deceived in flight.

Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka’s last hope for a competitive total, fought back bravely, smashing consecutive slog-sweeps for six despite being momentarily shaken after colliding with Kuhnemann at the non-striker’s end.

He found support from Ramesh Mendis, a talented first-class batter with a career-best score of 300 not out, though his Test average of 18 left much to prove. Ramesh showed great determination, playing forward defensively to frustrate Australia’s spinners.

With the second new ball in hand, Starc broke the partnership, dismissing Ramesh (28) and Prabath Jayasuriya (0) in consecutive deliveries. Steve Smith completed a sharp catch to surpass Ricky Ponting’s record of 196 catches for Australia in Test cricket.

At stumps, Sri Lanka were 229/9, with Kusal Mendis unbeaten on 59 and Lyon and Starc leading Australia’s charge.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 229/9 in 90 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 74, Kusal Mendis 59 not out; Mitchell Starc 3-37, Nathan Lyon 3-78) against Australia.