Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis hit gritty half-centuries to lead a strong Sri Lanka reply on day two of the second Test against Australia.

The hosts reached 184-2 at stumps in Galle, where only a few spectators watched from the stands after a fresh outbreak of political unrest in the country.

Karunaratne made 86 in a marathon stand of 152 with Kusal before Mitchell Swepson broke through with the captain’s wicket.

Kusal was still batting on 84 alongside Angelo Mathews, on six, at close of play, with Sri Lanka trailing Australia’s first-innings 364 by 180 runs.

Debutant Sri Lanka spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya claimed six wickets to bowl out Australia in the first session, with Steve Smith left unbeaten on 145.

The hosts were dealt an early blow when Mitchell Starc’s pace bowling got Pathum Nissanka to edge the ball to gully, where Cameron Green took a good catch.

The left/right-hand batting pair of Karunaratne and Kusal survived an inspired spell of pace bowling from Starc and skipper Pat Cummins to grind their way through the afternoon.

Karunaratne raised his fifty with a boundary off Swepson, while Kusal’s stubborn resistance prompted Australia to rotate their bowlers.

Premier off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who starred in the team’s opening win with nine wickets, had 21 overs without success.

Swepson eventually trapped Karunaratne lbw on a delivery that skidded straight into the batsman’s pads.

The tourists started the day on 298-5 with Smith, who scored his first Test hundred in 18 months on day one, resuming on 109.

Jayasuriya, who took three wickets on the opening day, set a trap for overnight batsman Alex Carey, who miscued a reverse sweep to be caught at backward point for 28.

The left-arm spinner soon got Starc out for one to become the seventh Sri Lanka bowler to take five wickets in an innings on Test debut.

Jayasuriya was one of the three Sri Lanka players, along with Maheesh Theekshana and Kamindu Mendis, to be awarded a first Test cap following a Covid outbreak sidelining several members of the squad.

There were barely any spectators at Galle for the second day’s play, with the host country embroiled in public unrest arising from its painful economic crisis.

In the morning session, hundreds of protesters looked down on the Galle fort to demand the resignation of Sri Lanka’s president – who fled his home on Saturday shortly before a huge crowd of protesters stormed his residence.

Australia lead the two-match series 1-0 after a crushing opening win inside three days during last week’s first Test.

© Agence France-Presse