Sri Lanka extend lead to 261 at tea

By Shehan Daniel reporting from Galle   

Sri Lanka added healthily to their overnight lead on the back of half-centuries from Kusal Mendis and Oshada Fernando, despite Pakistan spinners Mohammed Nawaz and Yasir Shah claiming all six wicket to fall so far in day three of the first Test in Galle.   

 Sri Lanka had extended their lead to 261 by tea with Dinesh Chandimal unbeaten on 34, and Ramesh Mendis keeping him company on 19   

 If the first sesaxsion was unequivocally Sri Lanka’s, the visitors could have laid claim to some honours in the second, though the five wicket they took after lunch coming at a sizeable cost to the tune of 125 runs, with Nawaz and Yasir bowling all but six of the 28 overs in the post-lunch session. 

 
 Fernando reached his sixth Test fifty in the first session, and with Kusal Mendis, looked largely unruffled by the bowlers, judicious enough to leave alone anything that danger.   

 They were also quick to punish the bowlers when the opportunity presented itself, which happened often, helping the pair add 96 runs to lead before lunch.   

 It didn’t take long for Yasir to get the ball rolling 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.   

 Mathews was taking a visibly slower approach with nine runs in 24 balls, before Nawaz produced some extra bounce to deceive the batsman, inducing another outside edge catch to Azam.   

 Kusal Mendis had looked solid in defence right through his innings, frequently rocking onto his back foot to block the ball, but Yasir produced the perfect leg spinning delivery pitching on leg stump that turned quickly into the batsman, missing the bat and hitting the off-stump.   

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

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

 Yasir then broke the dangerous partnership, bowling de Silva for 20, before Nawaz accounted for Niroshan Dickwella, reverse sweeping onto his stumps, for 12.