Galle:

 One of the elite Test batters, Steve Smith is known for his knack of shattering Test records and he continued his ascent on the opening day of the second Test between Australia and Sri Lanka as well. He created history on Thursday by grabbing a couple of catches to dismiss the Sri Lankan batters.

The 35-year-old sent back Kamindu Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya and took his tally of overall catches in Test cricket as a non-wicketkeeper to 197. With his 197th take, he overtook former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting’s feat of grabbing 196 catches. He is now just three catches away from equalling South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and becoming only the fifth fielder in the history of Test cricket to register 200 catches. Smith is currently on the list behind Rahul Dravid, Joe Root, Mahela Jayawardene and Kallis. However, he is at the top of the list for Australia while Ponting and Mark Waugh (181) are at the second and third positions respectively.

Most catches in men's Tests

210 - Rahul Dravid (India) in 164 matches

207 - Joe Root (England) in 152 matches

205 - Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) in 149 matches

200 - Jacques Kallis (South Africa) in 166 matches

197 - Steve Smith (Australia) in 116* matches

196 - Ricky Ponting (Australia) in 116 matches

Dinesh Chandimal played a knock of 74 runs while batting in the middle order, while Kusal Mendis also scored a fifty. Sri Lanka were 229/9 by Stumps on Day 1 of the Test match. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon picked three wickets each, while Matthew Kuhnemann scalped two dismissals.

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