Marsh, son of former Australia wicketkeeper Geoff, made an impressive 87 not out from 211 balls as he and veteran Mike Hussey (76no) shared an unbroken stand of 148 to give the tourists control of the match.
The pair's fourth-wicket stand took Australia to 264 for three in response to Sri Lanka's disappointing first innings total of 174 all out.

Having started the day on 60 for nought, Australia lost openers Shane Watson and Phil Hughes for 36 apiece before captain Michael Clarke departed for 13.

That left Australia wobbling on 116 for three but 28-year-old Marsh, batting at three in his maiden appearance, came together with Hussey to steady the ship.

Australia suffered an early setback when Watson was dismissed by the 10th ball of the morning, shouldering arms to a Suranga Lakmal delivery which nipped back and clipped off stump.

Marsh and Hughes settled into a cautious stand of 35 from 17 overs before the latter fell victim to a fine bat-pad catch from Tharanga Paranavitana at short leg. Suraj Randiv was the successful bowler on this occasion.

Clarke reached just 13 before wafting at a wide ball from Chanaka Welegedara, Mahela Jayawardene taking the catch in the slips.

At lunch the tourists had reached 133 for three but the runs began to flow after the resumption.

There were three boundaries and 13 runs off the third over of the afternoon, bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan, and both batsmen continued to pick off the bad balls when they came.

Marsh, in particular, looked to use his feet as the innings progressed and clipped Prasanna for successive fours to bring up his first 50.

Hussey had to wait longer for his half-century, but moved past 49 after a nervy wait by despatching Randiv through square leg.

At tea the pair had eased the total along to 251 in 87 overs but there were only 25 balls in the closing session - from which came 13 runs - before the light worsened.

After a lengthy wait the umpires called a halt to the day's play, leaving Marsh waiting overnight to ponder his chances of a debut ton.