After sharing a 44-run stand with skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene was sent back by Steve Smith with a straight throw at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Skipper Kumar Sangakkara and experienced batsman Mahela Jayawardene steadied the Sri Lankan ship after Australian pacers sent their openers back early in the innings at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Saturday.
Earlier, hard-hitting batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan lost his cool after an exchange of words with Aussie speedster Shaun Tait and gave away his wicket cheaply.
Other opener Upul Tharanga was also caught brilliantly at the square point by Steve Smith.
Earlier, Sangakkara won the toss and without any hesitation decided to bat first in their Group A match.
The home side decided to go in with three spinners for the game. Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan retained their places, while left-arm spinner Rangana Herath replaced medium pacer Nuwan Kulasekara.
Australia, on the other hand, kept the same side that hammered New Zealand in their last game.
Australia were all charged up after their wins against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, while Sri Lanka also returned to the winning ways, after their loss to Pakistan, as they registered an easy win against Kenya.
Aussie trio of Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson were firing with all cylinders and destroyed the batting line up of both the sides they had played so far.
Ricky Ponting would hope that the pacers continue their fiery stuff against Sri Lanka, which was expected to be loaded with a number of spinners.
