Hayden and Martyn lead Australian charge

Lunch Australia 220 and 311 for 3 (Hayden 130, Martyn 58*) lead Sri Lanka 381 by 150 runs
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As far as Australia are concerned, normal service has been resumed. After being under the cosh for two days, Australia were firmly in control of the opening Test at lunch on the fourth day. Starting the morning on 193 for 2 with a lead of 32, Australia turned the screws as they added 118 runs in 30 overs to finish on 311 for 3.

That is already the highest second-innings score in Galle's 10-match history and Sri Lanka now face the prospect of a daunting last-innings run-chase. To make matters worse, Sri Lanka suffered an injury blow too, as Sanath Jayasuriya split the webbing between his thumb and first finger on his right hand, and received one stitch, which could prevent him from batting in the second innings.

While Sri Lanka had wavered and eventually stalled the previous morning, as they tried to extend their first-innings lead and tighten their grip on the match, Australia bristled with positive intent and runs flowed during the first 45 minutes.

Hayden, though, was riding his luck against the spinners. He thumped one glorious drive through extra cover off Muttiah Muralitharan but came within inches of being caught at mid-off from a leading edge. One thin edge flew through a vacant slip area off Upul Chandana and he missed several attempted sweeps.

The sweep shot, one of his most prolific scoring strokes, eventually brought about his downfall against Muralitharan. Having added 24 to his overnight score, he cued a simple catch to Mahela Jayawardene at slip off the toe of his bat. Hayden had scored 130 from 211 balls and hit 12 fours and two sixes (245 for 3).

Darren Lehmann should have lasted just two balls as he poked Muralitharan's wrong'un straight to short leg. But Tillakaratne Dilshan, his fingers bandaged like a paranoid pianist, fumbled the catch. Lehmann breathed a sign of relief and vowed to be more forthright in the future: the next over, he clobbered Muralitharan straight through cover.

Lehmann adopted a no-nonsense approach and unsettled Sri Lanka's spinners with his inventiveness. He shuffled across his stumps and shoveled to leg. Every now and then he biffed the ball straight down the ground and puffed out his chest. Australia raced past 300 as Lehmann and Martyn added 66 for the fourth wicket.

At the break, Martyn, who passed fifty for the 16th time in his career and will hope he can now reach a hundred for the first time in over two years, was unbeaten on 58 from 123 balls and Lehmann was 37 not out.