Galle: Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 153 to guide Sri Lanka to 499 for eight at the lunch interval Monday, its second-highest total in a Test innings against Australia.
The Sri Lankans were bidding to level the two-match series in Galle and had a 135-run first-innings lead with two wickets in hand on Day 4, with five sessions remaining in the series.
Former skipper Chandimal batted for more than eight hours to give his team control of the match, facing 293 deliveries and hitting 12 fours and one six. Prabath Jayasuriya had faced eight deliveries but was yet to get off the mark before the lunch break.
It was Chandimal’s fifth 150-plus score and he was on the verge of going past his career-best score of 164 made against India in Delhi in 2017.
Day 4 began with Sri Lanka leading by 67 runs, and the overnight pair of Chandimal and Ramesh Mendis consolidated without throwing the initiative away.
They increased their seventh-wicket partnership to 68 runs before Mitchell Starc trapped Mendis (29) lbw with an inswinging yorker with the third new ball.
Skipper Pat Cummins bowled Maheesh Theekshana (10) late in the morning session.
It has been a remarkable turnaround for Sri Lanka, which lost by 10 wickets in the first test before lunch on Day 3.
Australia has retained the Warne-Murali Trophy, but Sri Lanka is determined to square the series with a win in the second test against the No. 1-ranked team.
Sri Lanka had to call in another COVID-19 substitute after opener Pathum Nissanka tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing Oshada Fernando into the lineup as cover for the second time in the series.