Michael Clarke broke Ricky Ponting's record for the most Test runs in a calendar year as Australia continued their domination of the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka in Melbourne.
Clarke (56 not out) and Shane Watson (60 not out) remained at the crease throughout the entire opening session on day two as the hosts reached 238 for three at lunch, giving them an overall lead of 82.
Ponting's national record of 1,544 runs, which he set in 2005, was broken late in the morning when Clarke whipped a Dhammika Prasad delivery off his pads through mid-wicket for an easy single.
Clarke could have been dismissed on 54 moments earlier, however Kumar Sangakkara failed to make the most of a difficult stumping chance off Rangana Herath's bowling.
Written by
Robert Summerscales
Robert Summerscales
