Chandimal (132) continued Sri Lanka’s superb fightback with his seventh test century after they were reduced to 26 for five on the first morning with the hosts’ innings finally coming to an end just before the tea break.

Australia, who face the very real prospect of losing their top test ranking and suffering a 3-0 series sweep, lost David Warner (11) early to Dhananjaya de Silva but Smith (61) and Marsh (64) then added 120 for the unbroken second wicket.

At stumps, the touring side reached 141 for one wicket, trailing Sri Lanka by 214 runs.

Earlier, Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc picked up the last two wickets to fall, including the one of Chandimal, to complete his seventh career five-wicket haul and take his series tally to 22.

After resuming on 214-5, De Silva (129) and Chandimal put paid to Australia’s hopes of quick wickets by extending their sixth-wicket stand to 211 before the overnight centurion became off-spinner Nathan Lyon’s third victim.

Shaun Marsh, who had dropped De Silva on Saturday after the batsman had completed his maiden hundred, managed to hold on to the catch at forward short leg this time.

Dilruwan Perera (16) was the only other batsman to fall in the first session, giving left-arm spinner Jon Holland his first wicket of the innings as the batsman lofted a drive to Lyon at long on as he looked to up the tempo.

Chandimal, 26, was mostly watchful and concentrated hard during his knock but broke free to move into the 80s when he reverse swept Lyon for a superb six over the deep point boundary.

He turned Lyon for a single to square leg to complete his hundred off 281 balls, celebrating with a loud yell as he leapt in the air. He was dropped by Australia captain Steven Smith off the very next delivery.

Chandimal and Rangana Herath added 73 runs for the eighth wicket, deepening the frustration for Australia.

The partnership ended with Herath retiring hurt after suffering a body blow against paceman Josh Hazlewood.

Left-arm paceman Starc had Chandimal edging behind on the second delivery of his new spell and then dismissed Suranga Lakmal in his next over to complete his third consecutive five-wicket haul.

That Australia face the prospect of such a humiliation when they are the current Test champions is borne by the fact that their batsmen have found to be vulnerable against some high quality spin bowling by Sri Lanka’s three-pronged line-up which sees them trailing 0-2 in the three-match series.

Led by veteran spinner Rangana Herath and comprising Dilruwan Perera and newcomer Lakshan Sandakan they have been so dominant in the series to capture 35 of the 40 Australian wickets to fall. Coming to the SSC, Australia’s woes won’t end there

That Sri Lanka has sought the assistance and expertise of the chief curator at Pallekele, Asitha Wijesinghe in the preparation of pitches for all three Tests including SSC means only one thing – that the SSC pitch which traditionally assists fast bowlers and batsmen will be turned into a track that will spin from the first day as has been the case at Pallekele and Galle.

Australian captain Steven Smith in conversation with his vice-captain David Warner as they prepare for the third and final Test at the SSC grounds.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews described the SSC track being prepared for today’s third Test as a ‘turner’.

“SSC traditionally has been good for batting, but since of late it has helped spin bowling a lot. It will turn from day one and it will be a spinners’ paradise once again,” said Mathews.

Which means the Aussies won’t have any respite going into the third and final Test. They will once again face a trial by spin and if by now they have not found a way to tackle the spin of the Lankan bowlers, the Test is guaranteed to follow in the same trend as the first two.

“You don’t get these opportunities very easily. We know that. We have played really well in the first two games and we don’t want to give up this game,” said Mathews.

“We have put in lot of hard work ahead of this series and at the moment the mood and confidence is very good. We are excited. Everyone is geared up and we have not taken the foot off the gas. Hopefully we can go out there and beat the Aussies again. If we can do that it’s great.”

Seldom do countries want to make a change to their teams when they are winning. In that aspect openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva could consider themselves lucky to be retained for today’s Test despite a spate of low scores in the series which has seen neither of them getting into double figures in any of their four innings. Their highest score is seven.

“What the management and selectors think is that we can give opportunities to players whom we believe can deliver,” said Mathews. “Kaushal when it was tough in England fought really hard and after two games we don’t want to throw a character like him away. Dimuth didn’t score runs in England but he had got a big hundred in New Zealand. Everyone will go through that rough patch and hopefully they can deliver.

“It’s pretty easy to do when you are winning and give the guys a longer run when you are losing that’s not going to be the case. The selectors and the coach and everyone else are of the view that we will retain the same side now that we have won the series. These are the guys whom we believe will deliver at some stage,” he said.

However the only likely change Sri Lanka may make is replace Vishwa Fernando with Suranga Lakmal who has reported fit following hamstring stiffness that saw him miss the first two Tests.

You have to be proactive – Smith

Aussie captain Steven Smith knows what’s in store for his team at the SSC.

“Looking at this wicket it looks like it’s going to take a fair bit of spin from day one so you have to be proactive in the way you play,” said Smith.

“You’ve almost have to reinvent your game to be successful on these surfaces. In Australia, you don’t get balls that are turning like they are here and skidding on, everything’s pretty consistent.

“So it’s finding a way, I guess, and getting outside your comfort zone. It might be about sweeping, or coming down the wicket or getting deep in your crease.

“Sometimes it’s easy to do in the (practice) nets and when you get out in the middle there are guys around the bat, there’s the pressure of the match and it’s a whole different ball game.

“It’s just having the courage and faith to sometimes take a risk you may not take in Australia, and different ways of thinking to get around different situations.”

Australia’s indecision to name their eleven ahead of the third Test as they had done in the first two adds to the uncertainty that exists within the team.

The reason for that was given as hamstring soreness to one of their batters Adam Voges at yesterday’s training session.

“I am sure the selectors are talking about that (making personnel changes),” Smith said ahead of his team’s final training session.

“Losing two matches, you generally talk about those sorts of things so there are certainly possibilities that could happen.”

There is a likelihood of Shaun Marsh making his first appearance in the series after being overlooked for the first two. Marsh is one of the few batsmen in the present team to score a Test hundred in Sri Lanka when Australia last toured in 2011.