Smith and Carey plunder unbeaten tons as Australia take charge of second Test

  • Sri Lankan hopes snuffed out by partnership of 239
  • Tourists are 73 runs ahead with pitch wearing fast

Unbeaten centuries for Steve Smith and Alex Carey have put Australia on course for a series whitewash of Sri Lanka after the second day of the second Test in Galle.

On a dusty wicket tipped to soon become very tricky for the batsmen, Smith (120 not out from 239 balls) and Carey (139 not out from 156) forged a potentially match-winning 239-run stand that ripped momentum back in Australia’s favour.

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England will not boycott Afghanistan game despite Taliban ‘gender apartheid’

  • ECB chair condemns ‘oppression of women and girls’
  • But no ‘unilateral’ action for the Champions Trophy tie

England have confirmed they will play Afghanistan in the upcoming Champions Trophy despite pressure to boycott the fixture in response to the Taliban’s violation of women’s rights in the country.

Last month a cross-party group of 160 British MPs wrote to the England and Wales Cricket Board urging it to withdraw the men’s national team from their group stage match against Afghanistan in Lahore on 26 February.

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Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc fire in second Test before Sri Lanka dig in

Australia may have a fight on their hands to seal a rare subcontinent series win against Sri Lanka after a see-sawing first day of the second Test in Galle.

Nathan Lyon (three for 78) and Mitch Starc (three for 37) were Australia’s key men on a hot Thursday, the former orchestrating a Sri Lankan collapse before tea and the latter coming just short of a hat-trick after it. But the hosts showed improvement from their dismal series opener, finally able to piece together partnerships on a dusty wicket already offering plenty of turn. They finished the day at 229 for nine, with the deck likely to become very tricky for batters as the Test goes on. Kusal Mendis (59) and Lahiru Kumara (0) were unbeaten at the crease, the former batting with the kind of tenacity rarely seen from Sri Lanka in the first Test.

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