Australia batsman Phil Hughes, who had been heavily backed to reach a ton by people who like to bet on cricket, made a solid 87 on day two of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Sydney, but was not impressed with himself as he failed to reach the three-figure mark.

Hughes needed 143 deliveries to reach his score, and put on 130 alongside David Warner for the second wicket, thus making a good play for a permanent spot at number three. The batsman conceded that he would prefer to stay at first drop in future.

Hughes told ABC Grandstand: "Today wasn't so good. I would have liked 13 more and a few more, but I felt quite comfortable in the middle today and David and I put on a pretty good partnership.

"I love number three and I'd love to stay here for a period of time. I've been in and out of the team a few times over a number of years now, I really want to cement my position at three, so I suppose I'm really looking forward to the next little period.

"I feel like my leg side play has improved over the last 12 months, I think my defence has really come along. It's something I had to work on. Facing bowlers around the world, they can find you out. If you've got a good defensive game I think that's key going forward."

Graham Ford, the coach of Sri Lanka, who are rank outsiders according to bookmakers like Paddy Power, admitted that his side were a bit nervous at the start of the day, which is why Hughes and Warner were able to put on a stand of 130 after losing Ed Cowan early on, and went on to end the day with a lead of 48 runs.

Though they took regular wickets, and Rangana Herath took two vital scalps, the visitors suffered at the hands of the big-hitting duo. They did manage to prevent any centuries though, and negated Michael Clarke's talents once he reached his 50.

Ford said: "We didn't start as well as we would have liked to this morning. It took some time for nerves to settle this morning.

"I was impressed with the energy and the fight amongst the fielders - perhaps there were one or two catches that went astray.

"It was a long day for those lads (pacemen), perhaps they didn't have enough gas in the tank to really capitalise with the new ball."