Australia's batsmen need a strong start to day four to set up a first Test victory, according to paceman Peter Siddle, who broke through the Sri Lankan batting order on day three at Bellerive Oval.
Australia was 0 for 27 at stumps, a lead of 141 with two days to go, after the Sri Lankans were dismissed in the final session for 336.
Siddle made the difference for Australia with another lion-hearted performance, taking 5 for 54 off 25.3 overs.
The Victorian paceman helped tie down the Sri Lankan batsmen, raising the pressure on the tourists with 11 maiden overs.
He was critical at the end of the innings, taking three wickets in 12 deliveries to blast out the Sri Lankans for 336, still 114 behind on first-innings.
His performance was even more important following the injury to Tasmanian quick Ben Hilfenhaus, who took no further part in the Sri Lankan innings after suffering a side strain in the opening session.
Siddle told Grandstand he expected to be bowling again some time on day four in search of victory in the first Test.
"I think to get a good result, and give ourselves enough time to get them out, I think so (declaration on day four)," he said.
"At the other end, of course, you've got to get a good enough score to defend, so it depends how we go about in the morning, I guess.
"Tomorrow's going to be hard work for the batters, so tomorrow morning's going to be the big key, that first hour to see if we can get through that and see where we go from there."
Despite getting through a solid workload in the first innings, Siddle told Grandstand he would be looking forward to getting another shot at the Sri Lankan batting.
"We know it's going to be tough ... that's why we play Test cricket, we want to get out there and have a crack at the second innings - that's where you win matches for your country and that's what we'll be doing," he said.
Siddle said accuracy was the key to success on the Bellerive pitch.
"I think when we were batting it showed that there was a bit of variable bounce, and ... we knew we had to bowl in the right areas," he said.
"It probably took us some time this morning to find those areas, but after lunch once we got it together from both ends, we got the rewards."
Sri Lanka had recovered from 4 for 87 at the start of the day, thanks to a 161-run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan (147) and Angelo Mathews (75).
Siddle broke the partnership with Mathews' wicket, then Starc dismissed Dilshan with the score on 289.
Siddle then went through Prasanna Jayawardene (40), Rangana Herath (0) and Chanaka Welegedara for a duck to close the innings. Nathan Lyon took the other wicket, dismissing Nuwan Kulasekara for 23.
The Sri Lankan bowlers then came out and put the Australian openers under real pressure in a difficult session before stumps.
In particular Kulasekara posed serious questions, moving the ball both ways in an impressive spell.
He should have had a wicket with the score on 0 for 11, when a top delivery hit Ed Cowan in front but was given not out. Inexplicably the tourists failed to refer the decision and replays showed Cowan was plum leg before.
Australia survived until stumps, with Cowan not out on 16 and Warner not out on 8.
Dilshan told Grandstand he was happy with his 147, which included 21 boundaries.
"It's my first century on Australian soil, against a great attack, so I'm happy," he said.
He said his team would gain confidence from the partnership between him and Mathews when chasing a total on the final day, but said the first target was to make inroads into Australia's batting line-up on day four.
"I think it's important in the first session tomorrow if we can get a couple of wickets, and put Australia on the back foot," he said.
"Then we can see what the target is, whether it's gettable or not."
Tags: sport, cricket, hobart-7000, tas, australia First posted December 16, 2012 19:32:06