Ricky Ponting’s Australians took the conservative approach Sunday, deciding to bat again rather than enforce the follow-on against Sri Lanka for the second time in the series.Skipper Ponting won the toss again here and Australia reached 542 for five before he declared the innings closed.Sri Lanka were bundled out for 246 in reply, 97 runs short of the follow-on target and 296 runs in arrears. But Mahela Jayawardene’s first Test hundred against Australia and Kumar Sangakkara’s 57 — and not wanting to face Muttiah Muralitharan’s spin on the fifth day — likely influenced Ponting’s decision to bat again and set a big target. At stumps on the third day, Australia were 111/1 in their second innings with an overall lead of 407. Matthew Hayden was the only wicket to fall, trapped lbw for 33 by Muralitharan three runs after he’d survived a strong appeal under similar circumstances.That was Muralitharan’s 704th Test wicket, four behind retired Australian legspinner Shane Warne’s world record of 708.Scoreboard Australia: 542-5 decSri Lanka (1st Innings)M Atapattu c Clarke b Lee 25, M Vandort b Lee 14,K Sangakkara c Hussey b Johnson 57, M Jayawardene c Clarke b Lee 104, S Jayasuriya b MacGill 3, C Silva c Gilchrist b MacGill 4, P Jayawardene c Gilchrist b Clark 0, F Maharoof run out 19, D Fernando c Gilchrist b Lee 2, L Malinga b Clark 1, M Muralitharan not out 1, Extras: (9nb, 7lb) 16; Total: (all out, 81.2 overs) 246Fall of wickets: 1-41, 2-54, 3-127, 4-134, 5-152, 6-163, 7-196, 8-207, 9-243.Bowling: Lee 23.2-4-82-4, Johnson 17-3-44-1, Clark 16-6-32-2, MacGill 25-5-81-2Australia (2nd Innings)P Jacques batting 53, M Hayden lbw Muralitharan 33, R Ponting 7,Extras: (15nb,1lb,2b) 18; Total: (for 1 wkt, 20 overs) 111Fall of wickets: 1-83.Bowling: Malinga 7-0-41-0, Fernando 6-0-35-0, Muralitharan 7-0-32-1
