Chandimal, Kusal, Fernando add to significant Sri Lanka lead

Sri Lanka exerted their dominance and extended the lead over Pakistan in the first Test in Galle, on the back of half-centuries from Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando.

With a full day of batting, Sri Lanka ended day three of the Test on 329 for 9, for an overall lead of 333, taking any would-be target for the visitors into the realm of the previously unachieved – the highest successful run chase at this venue being a target of 268.

In-form batsman Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 86, the former captain scoring a third consecutive innings of 50 or more runs, and last man Prabath Jayasuriya was on 4 not out.

The day was not without its periods of success for Pakistan, particularly in the case of left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, who claimed his first Test five-wicket haul and for Yasir Shah who accounted for three dismissals, but even during the visitors’ best session of play, Sri Lanka scored runs at a more than healthy rate.

Chandimal walked into bat with Sri Lanka on 164 for 4, during a phase of the game in the afternoon session when Pakistan’s spinners looked their best, and was almost undone himself in the first ball, when Nawaz just beat his outside edge.

Kusal Mendis perished for 75 four overs later, squared up by an unplayable leg spinner, that pitched outside leg stump and spun so sharply that it beat the bat and hit the off-stump – Mendis attempting to defend on the backfoot, like he had with several similar deliveries before.

A partnership between Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva ensued, with both batsmen showing aggressive intent, the latter scoring a boundary and six inside the first 12 balls he faced.

Chandimal, who was on 9 off 21 balls with no boundaries, also got in on the act, slog sweeping Nawaz for a six over cow corner, with another at the start of Nawaz’s next over.

Five deliveries later, Shah bowled an indecisive de Silva for 20, the leg spinner’s third wicket, but the partnership of 40 came in just 36 balls and gave the innings impetus, with the batsmen who followed, Niroshan Dickwella and Ramesh Mendis also looking to play shots.

This resulted in partnerships of 17 and 32 respectively, taking Sri Lanka’s lead past 270, both falling to Nawaz to complete his first five-wicket haul.

Where Pakistan would have sensed a completion to the innings however, Chandimal continued to frustrate, this time finding able assistance, like he had in the first innings, from Maheesh Theekshana, who absorbed 57 and scored 11 runs.

That partnership added another 41 runs to the total, invaluable to any potential target for the visitors, and despite Hasan Ali dismissing Theekshana, Chandimal kept the innings alive with Jayasuriya, hitting three more boundaries – the last of which was a perfectly placed reverse sweep that beat two fielders converging from fine leg and deep square leg.  

Earlier, in the first session, Fernando reached his sixth Test fifty, and with Kusal Mendis, looked largely unruffled by the bowlers, judicious enough to leave alone anything that was dangerous and yet quick to punish the bowlers when the opportunity presented itself – an occurrence too frequent, helping the pair add 96 runs to lead before lunch.

It didn’t take long for Yasir to pull things back in Pakistan’s favour after lunch, removing Fernando for 64 on the second ball after the resumption, the opener’s attempted drive sending a low catch off the outside edge to Babar Azam at slip, to end a 91-run partnership.

Angelo Mathews joined Kusal Mendis, and the pair put on 32 runs, the latter doing a majority of the scoring, and reaching his 17th Test fifty in the process.

Nawaz’s third wicket was of Dickwella, ostensibly on his ninth life now, when he reverse swept onto his stumps, for 12.  

By Shehan Daniel reporting from Galle