Nathan Lyon

The tourists backed spinners Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Swepson despite both bowling in excess of 50 overs in the second innings of the second Test which ended in a draw on Wednesday.

Conditions are expected to be similar in Lahore as they were in the previous two Tests with Karachi and Rawalpindi, where only 42 wickets fell overall.

"We were really happy with how all 11 players went last Test," Cummins told reporters on Sunday.

"Everyone has pulled up really well. We gave them an extra couple of days to make sure everyone has come up good. But there's no injury worries, everyone is freshened up, so we're confident in the XI.

"Only having two quick bowlers, I think reverse swing is going to be a big factor and the way Starcy played last game was fantastic.

"It's always tough leaving out someone like Joshy [Josh Hazlewood], even Scotty Boland. But the class and the difference Starcy brings as a left-armer, a bit more air speed, we think that's the best chance to take 20 wickets."

Cummins added that he felt Australia could take the necessary 20 wickets needed to win the third Test, having created chances that were not taken in Karachi as Pakistan resolutely batted out more than 171 overs to hold on for a draw.

"I think what's been clear... is the way we've gone about it is the right way," he said. "I've been really happy with how everyone has gone about their work (and) the tactics. I think it's just a matter of taking those chances.

"Wickets are at a premium in this series so you can't afford to drop too many chances. We created more than 10 chances [in Karachi], we just unfortunately didn't take them, so that's going to be the challenge this week."

The tourists took a first-innings lead of 109 at the Galle International Stadium on Friday before bowling Sri Lanka out for only 113.

Nathan Lyon took 4-31 after claiming a five-wicket haul in the first innings, and part-time spinner Travis Head, who had never taken a Test wicket, claimed stunning figures of 4-10 as Sri Lanka folded.

Mitchell Swepson took the other two wickets, and after being set only five runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, David Warner hit Ramesh Mendis for four and then six inside the first over to seal an emphatic victory.

Australia captain Cummins said: "A couple of new words we're using about our approach is about being proactive and being brave.

"We saw some really clear methods from all the batters. They might have been individually a bit different, but you saw everyone being really proactive and putting pressure back on the bowlers. It's something you'd normally talk about in one-day cricket or T20 cricket. But I think that's the style over here that's needed."

He added: "I think it's part of the environment that we are trying to create. Failure is absolutely okay, as long as you are failing in a way you are happy to be."

The paceman lavished praise on spinner Lyon, who moved into the top 10 on the list of all-time leading Test wicket-takers by taking his tally to 436.

"I wouldn't change Lyon for anyone," Cummins said. "He's gone into the top 10 wicket-takers of all time. You saw him out there. He's unplayable for left or right-handers.

"Sometimes out here, bounce for spinners is spoken about [as] something that's not desirable, but he showed here with that bounce he was unplayable. His stamina as well – you give him the ball from one end and say see you at the end of the day."

The tourists were in the ascendancy throughout at the National Stadium in Karachi, having posted 556-9 in the first innings before bowling hosts Pakistan out for just 148.

Cummins opted to bat again as opposed to enforcing the follow-on for Babar Azam's Pakistan, who were set a mammoth 506 to win or to bat just under two days to secure the draw.

Led by captain Babar, who batted over 10 hours for his 425-ball 196, Pakistan decided on the latter option and their star batter was aided by Abdullah Shafique (96) and Mohammad Rizwan (104 not out).

Nathan Lyon spurred Australia to battle until the end with two wickets in two balls, dismissing Faheem Ashraf and Sajid Khan, but Pakistan held on for a famous draw.

It could have been a different result, though, given Steve Smith shelled Shafique late on day four and Usman Khawaja dropped Rizwan with three overs of play remaining on day five.

"I think the positive thing is each time we've created more than 10 chances," Cummins said. "It's probably the disappointing thing this game as well.

"If we took a couple of those catches it might be a different scenario. I walked off the field at the end of the day's play without feeling there was something I hadn't tried, or there wasn't a plan we hadn't given a really good chance at.

"In foreign conditions, we are showing that we are able to adapt and play well over here. But of course, getting so close, [being] so far ahead of the game, and not coming away with the result can feel like it's a missed opportunity."

Debutant Swepson finished with figures of 0-156 in the second innings from his 53.4 overs, but Cummins heaped praise on the spinner, along with his partner Nathan Lyon.

"I thought Swepo bowled fantastically," Cummins said. "I don't know how he's ended up with those figures. Especially that middle session, he had an umpire's call, a couple of half-chances dropped off his bowling, lots of plays and misses.

"The way he was able to be a real wicket-taking option on a really good wicket without really footmarks to the right-handers I was just really impressed with how he went about it.

"Nathan, I thought he bowled well, particularly today. Felt like he was going to get a wicket every over. When I took off him to bowl Starcy or myself, it was a hard decision to make because felt like he was so close to a wicket all day."

Asked whether he left enough time to win the Test, leaving five-and-a-half sessions to dismiss Pakistan, Cummins responded: "Overall I wouldn't change too much to do honest. 

"Batting into day three gave us that chance to really have a crack at them – probably went better than we could have expected – but over here the wickets are pretty good.

"We tried to bat two-and-a-half days on the best time of the wicket, hoping that it would break up on day four and five and it held together pretty well.

"Babar, Rizwan, Shafique, thought they all batted fantastically the last two days. We knew the wicket wasn't playing too many tricks but they batted superbly and made it really hard to get that breakthrough and when we did the next guy stuck at it as well.

"The good thing is it's nil-all, we didn't lose anything. Coming over here in these conditions, at the start of the series if you'd said it was going to be nil-all after two games you'd probably take that."

Australia will look to seal a series victory in the winner-takes-all decider that starts in Lahore on Monday.

Resuming on 28 for two, England put their foot to the floor as they moved to 273 all out at the end of an elongated afternoon session.

The hosts would have loved one of their middle-order batters to kick on to a substantial score, but saw Joe Root (46), Harry Brook (46) and Ben Stokes (43) dismissed one by one just as they were dragging control away from the Australians.

There were important runs too from from the tail, Ollie Robinson making 27 as the last two wickets put on 44.

Despite delivering emphatically on their promise to entertain, even those who roared their approval from the stands may reflect that England over-reached against Nathan Lyon at times.

Root was stumped for the first time in 131 Tests when he ran down the pitch and swiped fresh air and Brook cut short a highly promising stay when he dragged to midwicket trying to force a boundary.

Former captain Root set the tone for a colourful day with an audacious start, attempting his trademark reverse ramp off Pat Cummins’ first delivery of the morning.

Root has become a master of that audacious stroke but, even by his own standards, attempting it so early – with a crucial Test match balanced on a knife-edge – showed remarkable chutzpah.

Undeterred, he went back to the well twice in the next over, launching Scott Boland over the wicketkeeper’s head for six and then flicking four more beyond the slip cordon. It was a faintly surreal, but utterly exhilarating opening salvo.

England continued to go after Boland, who shipped 31 off his first three overs as his reputation for economy took its second battering in four days.

By contrast, Cummins was working up a head of steam at the Pavilion End and he produced a picture-perfect inswinging yorker to see off Ollie Pope (16), thudding the base of off stump as the batter groped for contact. He finished with four for 63 – an outstanding effort by any measure.

That left England 84 ahead and three down, but the arrival of Brook ensured the tempo did not slow. He took just three balls to register his first four, punching Cameron Green down the ground and quickly dialling up the aggression.

He helped himself to 13 off Lyon’s first over – not the kind of reception the spinner would have anticipated on a wearing pitch – and later launched him over extra-cover with a clean swing of the bat.

Lyon got his rewards for sticking at it, Root overly giddy as he ran down the pitch and left Alex Carey a simple stumping.

Stokes unexpectedly cooled things down, playing safely as he realised the importance of slowing Australia’s roll, but Brook lost his patience as Lyon dried up the scoring options.

Within sight of a first Ashes fifty he swiped at the spinner and was well caught by the diving Marnus Labuschagne at midwicket.

Jonny Bairstow successfully overturned an lbw decision just before lunch, with England heading in at 155 for five. They made another 118 in the middle session, but were bowled out in the extra half-hour as they wrestled for the upper hand.

Bairstow took the lead past 200 with successive fours – an impeccable square drive and a thick edge to deep third – but he was undone lbw by the wily Lyon for 20.

That left Stokes in charge of building the lead and he batted with deliberate focus, putting away the slogs that have too often followed him around as captain.

He hit five boundaries in almost two hours of observance, before his opposite number Lyon trapped him leg-before with the lead at 217.

England will have been happy with their finishing position from there, Moeen Ali making a scratchy 19 and Robinson showing real composure as he chipped away vital runs.

He was close to being out for five, but Labuschagne brushed the ball across the ground after claiming the catch at short leg. He holed to give Lyon a fourth, with Stuart Broad and James Anderson adding 17 more before the latter edged Cummins behind.

Replying to Australia's 480 all out at the Narendra Modi Stadium, India were trailing by 191 runs at stumps on Saturday after closing on 289-3.

Opening batter Gill dug in for his highest Test score of 128 in Ahmedabad, where Virat Kohli was well set on 59 at stumps and Ravindra Jadeja was still there on 16 as Rohit Sharma's side strive to win a series they lead 2-1.

Spinners Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon and Matthew Kuhnemann claimed a wicket apiece as Australia toiled in the heat on a pitch offering little encouragement for the bowlers.

An opening stand of 74 between Rohit (35) and Gill ended when the captain struck a Kuhnemann delivery to Marnus Labuschagne at short cover, but the tourists were unable to make further inroads in the morning session.

The watchful Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara found runs hard to come by after striding out after lunch at 129-1, but they looked untroubled in a partnership of 113 before Murphy trapped the number three lbw for an obdurate 42.

That breakthrough came just before tea, which India took on 188-2 after Gill had swept Murphy for four to reach three figures.

Kohli started with positive intent to get the scoreboard ticking and Gill continued to look comfortable until he was struck on the pad in front by Lyon, leaving India 245-3.

Steve Smith wasted a review for an lbw shout against Jadeja off the bowling of Murphy and Kohli brought up an 107-ball half-century by working Lyon off his hip for two as India chipped away at Australia's lead.

India will look to build an advantage on day four, knowing they have retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but need a win to be guaranteed to face Australia once again in the World Test Championship final in June.

Patience pays off for Gill

Gill laid the foundations with a superbly constructed innings, biding his time as faced 235 balls and wore the Australia bowlers down.

This was his second Test hundred after his first against Bangladesh last year and should cement his spot at the top of the order. 

He struck 12 fours and a six, launching Lyon over the rope in the final over on day two.

Kohli looking ominous

Former captain Kohli was rock solid in defence and aggressive at every opportunity, giving himself a great chance to register a 28th Test century.

Australia will need to see the back of the 34-year-old before too long on Sunday if they are to have a realistic chance of squaring the series at 2-2.

Nightwatchman Nathan Lyon was the unlikely top scorer for Australia, falling on 41 with his first Test 50 in sight.

Cameron Green continued his form with 34, but all-rounder Phillips spun his way to five wickets and was on a hat-trick after removing Travis Head for 29 and dismissing Mitch Marsh with the next ball.

Phillips finished with 5-45 as Australia were all out for 164.

The Australians struck early in the Blackcaps innings, Lyon dismissing Tom Latham and Kane Williamson for single-digit scores, before part-timer Head removed Will Young for 15.

Rachin Ravindra (56 not out) and Daryl Mitchell (12 not out) dug in for the rest of the day.

Two days remain with New Zealand requiring 257 pull off what would be an incredible victory.

Australia looked in position to take a 2-1 series lead, needing eight wickets on the final day at the SCG, but were left frustrated by a stubborn India batting line-up and costly dropped catches.

Rishabh Pant (97), Cheteshwar Pujara (77), Hanuma Vihari (23 off 161 balls) and Ravichandran Ashwin (39 off 128 balls) helped ensure India were level heading into the final Test in Brisbane starting on Friday.

The SCG pitch played few tricks on day five, and Pant even had India dreaming of an amazing win, the tourists eventually finishing at 334-5, 73 runs adrift of a victory they stopped chasing after Vihari hurt his hamstring.

Josh Hazlewood (2-39) and Nathan Lyon (2-114) made breakthroughs, but Australia were unable to do enough in a Test they looked destined to win as Tim Paine dropped three catches.

Australia landed an early blow as Lyon had Ajinkya Rahane (4) caught at short leg by Matthew Wade.

But Pant – who suffered an elbow injury on Saturday – was put down twice by Paine, on three and 56, off Lyon, and he counter-attacked superbly to put the pressure on the off-spinner.

Pujara brought up 6,000 Test runs, the 11th Indian to achieve the feat as he continued to frustrate Australia.

Pant looked capable of leading India to a shock victory before falling just short of a third Test century, caught by Pat Cummins at gully after trying to attack Lyon again.

The second new ball brought a key wicket for Australia as Hazlewood produced a wonderful delivery to bowl Pujara.

A pair of reviews were unable to get Ashwin, who was dropped on 15, a diving Sean Abbott – on for the injured Will Pucovski (shoulder) – unable to hold onto a tough chance.

Vihari and Ashwin, showing no intent to score, remained stoic and defended well against an increasingly desperate Australia.

Paine dropped another chance after Vihari edged a Mitchell Starc (0-66) delivery and it proved to be the final opportunity as India held on for a draw.

India's bowlers flexed their muscles after Australia's top order struggled to limp to 133-6 at stumps on day three – a lead of just two runs on Monday.

Australia lost 28-4 in 27.1 overs following tea to be left reeling in Melbourne, where India head into the fourth day needing just four tail-end wickets to win the second Test and level the four-match series.

Joe Burns' woes continued atop the order as Australia's batting fragility was exposed – Matthew Wade (40) and Marnus Labuschagne (28) the pick of the batsmen on a forgettable day.

India returned to the middle 277-5 and leading by 82 runs after capitalising on Australia's poor fielding display on Sunday.

Ajinkya Rahane's memorable innings came to an end on 112 – run out by Tim Paine after Ravindra Jadeja chased a half-century.

Rahane's 112 is the second-highest score by an India captain against Australia at the MCG, after Sachin Tendulkar's 116 in 1999, per Opta. Meanwhile, it is the fifth-highest by any visiting skipper overall.

Jadeja brought up his fifty before he was dismissed by star Australia paceman Mitchell Starc (3-78) and the hosts quickly cleaned up India for 326 as Nathan Lyon (3-72) and Josh Hazlewood (1-47) sent Umesh Yadav (nine), Ravichandran Ashwin (14) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) packing.

India had eyed a lead beyond 200 but instead claimed a 131-run advantage after surrendering 32-5 in 93 deliveries as their tail failed to wag.

In response, Australia crumbled early, especially Burns (four) – who could have been run out twice and faced an lbw appeal before he was caught behind off Yadav (1-5) in the space of just 10 balls amid growing scrutiny.

Yadav limped off injured and just as Wade and Labuschagne navigated Australia through 14 overs and to 38, Ashwin (1-46) drew an edge from the latter, which brought Smith to the crease and the former skipper was bowled around his legs by Bumrah (1-34) for eight.

Wade dug deep in a 137-ball display but his dismissal by Jadeja (2-25) opened the floodgates as Australia went from 98-3 to 99-6 when Travis Head (17) and Paine (one) – controversially out on review – were sent pack to the pavilion.

Cameron Green (17 not out) and Pat Cummins (15 not out) thwarted India but the pair and Australia face an uphill battle entering the penultimate day.

The Baggy Green came back with a vengeance in the third Test in Indore though, winning by nine wickets after limiting India to a total of just 272 runs from their two innings.

It provides more drama for the fourth and final Test, when the home team will be looking to avoid suffering defeat in multiple Test matches in a series in India for the first time in over 10 years. 

India have not lost more than once in a men's Test series on home soil since going down 2-1 to England in November-December of 2012.

The Border-Gavaskar series finishes in Ahmedabad, which has seen spin dominate in previous Tests.

Surfaces have been almost the sole subject of discussion around the matches so far, but India captain Rohit Sharma just wants to focus on playing cricket.

"Honestly the pitch talk is getting too much, every time we play in India focus is only on the pitch. We focus too much on the pitch in India," he said.

"I don't think that is necessary. Honestly speaking, these are the kind of pitches we want to play on.

"This is our strength, so when you're playing at your home, you always play to your strength, not worry about what people outside are talking about."

It was a good job Australia were able to restrict India to so few runs in the third Test, as their batters have struggled throughout the series, only scoring more than 200 in an innings once.

They have scored an average of 25.3 runs per wicket in men's Tests in 2023, their lowest rate since 1956 when they averaged just 21.6 runs per wicket.

The tourists will also be up against history, having not won multiple games within a single series in India since 1969.

Their spinners will likely be needed to step up again, with the emergence of Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann alongside Nathan Lyon proving a revelation in the third Test, with the trio taking 18 of the 20 India wickets to fall between them.

Murphy wants to make the most of it, saying: "I haven't thought too far ahead but when you look, Gaz [Lyon] is still bowling as good as he ever has so when this series does come to an end it is going to slow down a little, it's quite rare other places in the world to play two spinners."

Can Kohli rediscover form?

Virat Kohli has been unable to find his best form of late, averaging 22.2 in the series and without a half-century in five innings.

However, he has made a good connection on 82 per cent of his 219 balls faced, the highest of any player to have faced at least 60 balls this series, so just needs to find a way to translate that into more runs.

Lyon close to becoming number one tourist in India

The experienced Lyon was sensational in the last Test, particularly in the second innings as he claimed figures of 8-64.

The 35-year-old has taken 53 Test wickets in India, the second most of any visiting player in the history of the men's format, with only England's Derek Underwood (54) having taken more.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with the 2020 sporting calendar and cricket has not been spared the scheduling headache caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

Test cricket is set to resume next month with a behind-closed-doors series between England and West Indies.

Pakistan are due to tour England for three Tests and three T20 internationals immediately after, but the confirmation of 10 positive tests for coronavirus among Misbah-ul-Haq's squad has led to concerns over those matches.

Officials said plans to play Pakistan remain on track but there have been some murmurings that Australia, who are due to feature in a rescheduled limited-overs tour of England in September, could be asked to play some red-ball cricket should the matches with Pakistan be curtailed.

Asked about that possibility, Lyon replied with a smile: "It just sounds like England want the Ashes back ASAP!"

Australia's own plans are up in the air, with uncertainty over August's home ODI series with Zimbabwe, while the T20 World Cup – which is slated to take place in the country across October and November – may yet be moved to early next year.

"I've got no idea when we're playing next or when potential tours are or anything," Lyon added.

"There's so many balls up in the air. I'm not qualified to be making any arrangements.

"We know something will come eventually. It's just about getting some really good preparation under our belt."

Lyon has another target in his sights for later in the year, namely gaining revenge on India for Australia's 2018-19 Test-series defeat on home soil.

It was the first time India had won a red-ball series in Australia and Lyon wants to make amends when Virat Kohli's side are back for four Tests, the first of which starts in December.

"You never like losing series or games of cricket for Australia," Lyon said.

"India a couple of years ago, they outplayed us. But we're looking forward to having those guys come here, it's getting up there to the pinnacle series alongside the Ashes.

"They've got a side full of superstars and it's going to be an amazing challenge this Australian summer when they get out here."

An ODI between Australia and New Zealand was played behind closed doors in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It remains to be seen when fans will again be allowed in to watch sporting events, with Australia due to host India from October.

Kohli is renowned for his ability to feed off crowds and Lyon joked the batsman could instead turn to the seats, although he was full of praise for the 31-year-old.

"He's probably good enough to adapt to any scenario," the off-spinner told a video conference on Tuesday.

"I was actually talking to Mitch Starc the other day and we actually said if we are playing with no crowd it would be quite amazing to see Virat try and rev up the seats.

"It's going to be a little bit different, but I think Virat, he's a superstar, he'll be able to adapt to any climate that we're able to play in."

While there is plenty of uncertainty over the series, Lyon said he was excited about welcoming India, who retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19.

"I'm just excited about the prospect of India coming out. I think India coming out here to Australia, it's up there with the biggest series alongside the Ashes," he said.

"Obviously they're an absolute powerhouse of the cricket world so to have those guys out here is going to be fantastic. Playing in front of crowds or in front of no crowds, it's out of our control.

"We've got to be supported by and follow the advice from all the amazing medical people around the world giving out all the advice so it's out of our control.

"I haven't really thought about playing in front of no crowds or massive crowds, it's just about the opportunity about playing against India again.

"Obviously they had the wood over us last time they come out here, but I feel like we're a much stronger Australian cricket side at the moment and I'm just unbelievably excited about the prospect of playing them here at home."

Sixteen wickets fell on a captivating second day at Holkar Cricket Stadium, where the tourists collapsed to 197 all in reply to India's 109.

Ravichandran Ashwin (3-44) and Umesh Yadav (3-12) took Australia's last six wickets for only 11 runs to seemingly leave the game in the balance.

With sharp turn and variable bounce to contend with, Cheteshwar Pujara made 59 but India were skittled out for 163 in their second innings in Indore, Lyon claiming a magnificent 8-64 to leave Australia facing only a small run chase to make it 2-1.

Ashwin ended a stand of 40 by removing Peter Handscomb (19) after Australia resumed on 156-4 and Umesh trapped Cameron Green leg before in the next over.

Umesh cleaned up Mitchell Starc and Todd Murphy as the tourists folded after the drinks break, with Ashwin on the money as he struck Alex Carey in front, before bowling Lyon to end the innings in a flash.

Starting their second innings with a deficit of 88, India lost openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma bowled and lbw respectively to the excellent Lyon.

Virat Kohli followed for only 13 after being struck on the pad in front of middle stump attempting to pull a Matthew Kuhnemann delivery that kept low and India were 78-4 when Lyon sent Ravindra Jadeja trudging off.

Shreyas Iyer made a brisk 25 before falling to Mitchell Starc and Lyon continued to apply the pressure, seeing the back of Srikar Bharat and Ashwin.

Pujara stood firm for a battling half-century but his knock was ended when Steve Smith produced a brilliant diving catch at leg slip for the relentless Lyon, who dismissed Umesh and Mohammed Siraj without scoring to clean up the India innings.

Ashwin into the top three

The 36-year-old Ashwin took his incredible tally of international wickets to 689 in his 269th match to become India's third-highest wicket-taker across all formats.

He surpassed the great Kapil Dev's haul of 687 in all formats for India, making the most of the conditions after Jadeja (4-78) had taken all four wickets for India on day one.

Only Anil Kumble (953) and Harbhajan Singh (707) have claimed more scalps for India in all formats combined.

Lyon Australia's spin king

It was Kuhnemann who starred for the tourists by claiming his maiden five-wicket haul in only his second Test on day one, but fellow spinner Lyon was the main man on Thursday.

He bowled with great guile and control, helping himself taking his 23rd haul in the longest format after picking up three wickets on day one.

Lyon now has more wickets against India across all formats than any other Australia bowler after moving past Brett Lee's total of 111, having claimed his second eight-wicket haul in India.

The off-spinner comes into the squad for the final two matches of the series, which India lead after Friday's 11-run victory.

With Ashton Agar injured and Cameron Green released to play for Australia A against India A starting on Sunday, Lyon was added to the squad.

The 33-year-old last played a T20 for Australia in October 2018, and he has played just twice in the shortest format, taking one wicket at 48.

However, Lyon has taken 54 wickets at 20.51 in domestic T20s.

Mitchell Swepson (1-21) and Adam Zampa (1-20) were both part of Australia's attack in the opening T20.

Australia are still waiting for the results of scans for captain Aaron Finch, who hurt his hip or glute in the series opener.

India will be without Ravindra Jadeja (concussion) for the rest of the series after his heroics with the bat in the opening game, with Shardul Thakur added to their squad.

The second game of the series is in Sydney on Sunday.

Asitha Fernando dismissed Pat Cummins and Mitchell Swepson in the second over of the day to bowl the tourists out for 321 at the Galle International Stadium on Friday.

That gave the World Test Championship leaders a 109-run advantage and they were only just required to bat again, as Sri Lanka were skittled out for only 113 in a second innings that lasted only 22.5 overs.

Australia were set five to win and David Warner struck Ramesh Mendis for four and then a six to give them a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Dimuth Karunaratne, who top scored with 23, and Pathum Nissanka combined for an opening stand of 37, but that proved to be a false dawn as they endured an almighty collapse on a miserable day in which they lost Angelo Mathews to COVID-19.

Lyon (4-31) had captain Karunaratne caught behind and Swepson trapped Nissanka (14) leg before prior to Kusal Mendis falling to Australia's premier spinner.

Swepson (2-34) had Oshada Fernando – drafted in to replace Mathews – caught by Steve Smith in the slips before part-time spinner Head, who had not previously taken a Test wicket, got in on the act.

Head generated sharp turn from outside off stump to bowl Dinesh Chandimal and got rid of Dhananjaya de Silva in his next over as the procession of wickets continued.

Sorry Sri Lanka lost their last six wickets for 18 runs, Lyon adding another two to his tally to claim nine for the match and Head making a case that he should bowl more often as he finished with brilliant figures of 4-10.

Lyon moves into top 10

Sri Lanka were unable to handle Lyon, who finished with match figures of 9-121.

That moved the tweaker into the top 10 on the list of the all-time highest Test wicket-takers with 435, level with India legend Kapil Dev.

Sri Lanka's batting woes come to a Head

Batter Head sent down 228 deliveries in his Test career without taking a wicket before he stepped up to resemble a frontline spinner on a dramatic third day.

He picked up his four scalps in only 2.5 overs, adding insult to injury on a nightmare day for Sri Lanka.

Lyon overcame a bloodied thumb and two dropped catches to claim figures of 5-68 in Sydney, where the embattled Kiwis were dismissed for 251 on Sunday.

After skittling New Zealand late in the final session, David Warner (23 not out) and Joe Burns (16 not out) guided Australia to 40-0 and a lead of 243 runs at stumps.

New Zealand returned to the SCG at 63-0, with Tom Latham and Tom Blundell at the crease in reply to Australia's 454, however, it was another difficult morning for the tourists.

Lyon bowled Blundell before the New Zealand batsman could add to his overnight score of 34 and the Australia spinner struck again – trapping Jeet Raval (31) lbw.

Pat Cummins (3-44) joined the wicket-takers in the following over when his delivery to stand-in captain Lathan (49) was caught by Mitchell Starc as the Black Caps were 141-3 at lunch.

Debutant Glenn Phillips dug deep for New Zealand, who have tried to restore some pride having already lost the trans-Tasman series, but he had little support in the middle session.

Cummins trapped Ross Taylor (22) lbw, BJ Watling (9) was bundled over by fellow paceman Starc and Colin de Grandhomme (20) was run out prior to tea.

Phillips, who was twice dropped by Lyon, celebrated a half-century before he was bowled by Cummins, with Lyon cleaning up the tail – William Somerville (0), Neil Wagner (0) and Matt Henry (3) sent back to the pavilion.

That brought Australia out to bat again, and Warner and Burns negotiated a tricky 16-over spell to put the hosts firmly in control ahead of the penultimate day.

Back of the sight of his debut in five-day cricket back in 2011, Lyon (5-90) left Sri Lanka in a spin as he and Mitchell Swepson (who finished with a Test-best 3-55) bowled the hosts out for 212 – a fine counter-attacking half-century from Niroshan Dickwella limiting the damage.

Ramesh Mendis then struck twice to account for David Warner (25) and Marnus Labuschagne (13) before dangerman Steve Smith (13) was run out following a miscommunication with Usman Khawaja, to leave Australia 98-3 and still 112 runs in arrears.

Despite going wicketless in the first session, Lyon's constant pressure allowed Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc to make the morning breakthroughs – both Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis edging behind.

But after lunch Lyon had his rewards after lunch when captain Dimuth Karunaratne ballooned one to David Warner in the slips.

A couple of beauties from Swepson sent Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal back to the pavilion, before Dickwella saw off the hat-trick ball and preceded to reach his half century in just 42 balls.

Lyon, who had conceded 14 runs in one over to Dickwella, accounted for Angelo Mathews and – following a 54-run seventh-wicket stand – had Mendis trapped lbw before finally having the dangerman sent packing. He had a fifth after a sharp catch from Khawaja at mid-on had Lasith Embuldeniya trudging off.

It would have been a significantly better day for the tourists if it were not for the late wickets, the last of which was a shambolic run-out when Khawaja and Smith started to run, only for the former to send the latter back and well out, leaving the former captain seething.

Shane Warne tribute

Sri Lanka's cricket board paid tribute to the late Shane Warne before the start of play, with a number of the nation's cricket icons in attendance – including off-spin great Muttiah Muralitharan and former captain Arjuna Ranatunga.

Warne died at the age of 52 in March of a suspected heart attack and took his 500th Test wicket at Galle in 2004.

The Test series will be played for the Warne-Muralitharan trophy, which has been on offer since 2007-08 but the current series is the first since the passing of Warne.

Lyon joins select club

Nathan Lyon's 20th five-wicket haul in Test cricket saw him join an elite club as one of only five Australians to secure 20 five-wicket hauls.

He joins Clarrie Grimmett, Dennis Lillee, Glen McGrath and Warne, with Lyon's latest entry coming 11 years since his maiden five-for on his debut in Galle.

Among active cricketers, Lyon ranks third behind only James Anderson of England (31) and Ravichandran Ashwin of India (30).

The spin bowler shrugged off a nasty thumb injury and two dropped catches as he starred with the ball, helping to skittle the Black Caps for 251 before the hosts extended their lead to 243 runs - without losing a second-innings wicket - at the end of day three.

Lyon had never posted a five-for at the SCG before and was glad to have done so in a fine display on Sunday.

"It's always special being part of the Sydney Test match and playing in front of your family and friends, and to perform in the first innings was pretty special," he said.

"There's still plenty of work to do in the second dig, but if you were rocking up today and saying we'd end up with a lead of 240 and 10 wickets in hand, we'll take that every day."

Australia's bowlers have pledged to donate $1,000AUD to the bushfire relief appeal for every wicket they take in the Test.

Discussing the devastating fires that have swept the country, Lyon added: "We're not doing it [donating money] for recognition or anything like that...we're playing a game of cricket and there's people being severely affected by fires.

"It puts cricket in perspective and it's really showing Australia's true colours. The true heroes of Australia right now are the firefighters and the volunteers.

"Everyone rallies behind someone when they're having a hard time. I'm proud to be Australian in hard times, to be honest, and we're getting around them."

Asked about his impressive recent form, Lyon suggested it was as much about the entire bowling unit as his own efforts.

"I'm fortunate to be part of the best bowling attack in the world so it's just about building pressure from both ends," he said.

"We've been able to do that over the last eight months or so. We're just getting our reward for all our hard work and preparation."

Stokes missed England's home contests against India earlier in 2021 after announcing in July he was taking time off for his mental wellbeing and to allow a broken index finger to recover.

A second operation on that injury earlier this month preceded Stokes being left out of an initial 17-man squad for the five-Test Ashes series, which begins on December 8 in Brisbane, though he has since posted footage of him batting and bowling 

While a continued omission for Stokes, who is also not with England for the T20 World Cup, would obviously be a boost for Australia, Lyon remains hopeful he will go head-to-head with one of the best in the game.

"I'm expecting him to come. I'm expecting Stokes to be out here and, to be honest, I hope he is," Lyon told reporters at the Hurtsville Oval in Sydney, where the NSW Blues were playing an intra-squad practice match.

"You want to play against the best players in the world and Stokesy is the best all-rounder in the world. 

"He's an X-factor and he's a game-changer, and you want to play against these players, so I'm expecting Stokes to be here."

Stokes has 4631 runs in 71 Tests and a batting average of 37.04. With the ball, he has 163 wickets at an average of 31.38.

His absence would be a blow to an England batting line-up many feel is lacking in quality depth.

That is not an opinion shared by Lyon, though, who says he has a few surprises up his sleeve for Australia's greatest cricketing enemy.

"I've always got a couple of mystery balls," he said. "That's been the beauty about this pre-season, it's been my first ever proper pre-season. 

"I've been able to do a lot of fitness work and a lot of skills work. I've already started looking at a couple of England's batters, so that's exciting.

"They've got some very talented batters early in their Test careers. Look at Ollie Pope's last red-ball game. He got a pretty big double-hundred. 

"It's going to be a different challenge for these guys, coming out to Australia and we want that."

The fast bowler suffered a knock to his hand attempting to take a catch on day one, casting a shadow over an otherwise spectacular performance from the hosts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

With Cameron Green paying a fitting tribute to Shane Warne in the Boxing Day clash with a first five-wicket haul in Test cricket, South Africa were skittled for 189 in Victoria.

However, Starc was forced off during the final session and Lyon acknowledged they face a nervous wait to discover if he will be able to continue.

"[It is] not ideal, I don't think," he told cricket.com.au. "He's popped off for a scan now. Fingers crossed we can get the best possible result with his scan.

"I don't know what he's technically done, but it doesn't look the greatest. He went out the back and tried to bowl, but I think it [felt] a bit different.

"Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game. All we can hope for is he gets the best possible result with the scan."

Starc has already suffered one hand injury this year, having sliced the top of his left index finger on his bowling shoe during Australia's tour of Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, Australia have revealed their Test Player of the Year award will be renamed after Warne, who passed away suddenly in March aged 52.

The tourists recalled James Anderson and Jofra Archer to feature alongside Stuart Broad and all-rounder Ben Stokes, in anticipation of conditions in the day/night Test being favourable to seamers.

However, a volatile surface offered assistance to spinners from the very start, with England bundled out for 112 and 81 as they lost by 10 wickets.

India only managed 145 in their first innings and England skipper Joe Root claimed career-best figures of 5-8 with his part time off-spin.

Despite being a far more respected practitioner of that particular craft, Lyon insisted he had no qualms over a surface that drew criticism from former England captains Michael Vaughan, Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.

"The best thing about this Test match that just passed is that England went in with four seamers," Lyon said, as quoted by cricket.com.au.

"That will do me. I don't need to say any more.

"I was up all night watching it. It was absolutely brilliant. I'm thinking about bringing that curator out to the SCG."

Lyon made a pointed reference to Australia's humiliating dismissals for 47 and 60 against South Africa and England in 2012 and 2015 respectively, when conditions favoured seam bowling.

"We play on seaming wickets around the world and get bowled out for 47, 60. Nobody ever says a thing [about the pitch]," he said.

"But as soon as it starts spinning, everyone in the world seems to start crying about it. I don't get it. I'm all for it, it was entertaining."

Despite Lyon's enjoyment of the latest match in the four-Test series, the result harmed Australia's prospects of reaching this year's World Test Championship final.

Only an England win in the final game can edge Tim Paine's side into the inaugural one-off showpiece against New Zealand at India's expense.

That would leave Australia out of action in the longest format until the start of their domestic season at the end of this year – an unhelpfully long time for speculation over ructions between coach Justin Langer and members of his team to fester.

"Me personally, if I had a problem with JL I'd go straight to him," Lyon added, casting doubt upon the rumours that emerged in the aftermath of Australia's humbling 2-1 home loss to an injury-ravaged India.

"But I don't have a problem with him. I don't understand where it's all coming from.

"I'd like to think anyone in that changing room or anyone at Cricket Australia or outside - if anyone has a problem with anyone, we're about being honest with each other."