Australia asked Sri Lanka to follow on after spinner Matthew Kuhnemann's five-wicket haul helped bundle out the hosts for 165 in their first innings on day four of the opening Test Saturday. 

Sri Lanka had already lost their top order in the second innings as they scored 75 for three in 17.2 overs at lunch, still trailing Australia's mammoth first innings total of 654/6d by 414 runs.    

Rain looks to be Sri Lanka's only hope of staving off an innings defeat at Galle after losing their last five wickets in the first innings for a paltry nine runs.

Dinesh Chandimal stood firm to craft a gritty 72, a lone bright spot in an otherwise bleak batting display.

He put on a 49-run stand with fellow overnighter Kusal Mendis but the latter soon gifted his wicket away for 21, top-edging a sweep off Kuhnemann straight to Todd Murphy at square leg.

Chandimal played with a straight bat and showcased textbook footwork against the spinners, working his runs mostly through the off-side against a packed leg-side field.

He was finally sent back after attempting a reverse sweep against Nathan Lyon and was found leg-before.

Kuhnemann and Lyon shared eight wickets between them.

Rain forced an early lunch on day three before washing out the final two sessions.

Australia declared on 654-6 late on the second day after opener Usman Khawaja's career-best 232.

The opening day saw stand-in skipper Steve Smith join the elite club of 10,000 career Test run-makers, the 15th player and fourth Australian to reach the milestone.

Galle will also host the second and final match of the series next week before a two-match ODI series in Colombo.