We felt we had left some runs in last few Tests: Labuschagne

Marnus Labuschagne was relieved that he was able to get his first overseas Test hundred and teammate Steve Smith got back among runs. Labuschagne (104) and Smith (109 not out) added 134 for the third wicket as Australia ended day one of the second Test against Sri Lanka at 298/5.

Labuschagne, ranked second among Test batters, has scored six hundreds in the past which have all come at home. He was finally able to get the monkey off his back on Friday after missing out on one against Pakistan in March.

"It's nice to get that one off the back, the first one away from home and to contribute and put the team in a position like we did today was very nice," Labuschagne said in the press conference at Galle.

"It's not something you sit there and think about all the time. But it's definitely something reporters (bring up) and the media beat everything up a bit. It's nice to score runs in different conditions and show people that you can play in not just bouncy, seaming or swinging conditions, but against spin as well," he added.

Former World no.1 batter Smith has had an indifferent year as his last hundred came in January, 2021 against India. Labuschagne was happy that Smith was in the right headspace before the match.

"Both of us felt like we'd left some runs out there for the last few Tests. So it was nice to cash in when we got an opportunity. From last week I was very disappointed. Probably just going away from my process rather than the dismissal. I think you're going to get out on that wicket eventually, but you just want to make sure you stick to your process and obviously Smudge got run out. So that would have been very frustrating. The boys said this morning when he rocked up to the ground, he was in the Smudge headspace and he looked locked in," he said.

While admitting that he had to careful with few shots and his defence, Labuschagne said that he did not try to analyze the turning track at Galle.

"There was certainly a bit of talk around the traps and some of the words we were getting were that they were going to make it a better wicket. But I didn't really look at the wicket until today, I didn't invest too much energy. That wicket was a lot nicer to bat on and just trust your game, I had to make sure I adapted my game a bit and not go as hard as I would if the wicket was going big," he said.