Sri Lanka in the lead after Chandimal ton, Mathews and Mendis fifties

By Shehan Daniel reporting from Galle

Dinesh Chandimal’s fortuitous century and fifties from Kamindu Mendis and Angelo Mathews ensured Sri Lanka added to their collection of good sessions to gain a 67-run lead against Australia in the second Test in Galle on Sunday. 

Like a morning after, the mood around the Galle Stadium was significantly more muted than on Saturday, when the chants and cacophony of peaceful protestors calling for the resignation of the President and Prime Minister rang out loud, making it impossible to ignore for those within the stadium. 

The tone may have changed outside the grounds but inside Sri Lanka’s steady course towards a first innings lead went unaltered, with the home team pressing on the position they found themselves in to end day three on 431 for 6. 

Chandimal showed some intent early in his innings, getting off the mark with a boundary and then following it with a six over the long-off boundary. 

It was perhaps the lucky his first respite two overs later then, when Alex Carey was slow to react to a stumping chance, that pushed Chandimal into a more cagey approach, facing a further 74 deliveries and scoring 24 runs before his next boundary. 

In the period in between those boundaries, he and Angelo Mathews formed an 83-run partnership, the latter going on to score his 38th Test half-century. 

Mathews struck four boundaries, one a precisely placed reversed sweep past short third man and made the bigger share of the contribution in the partnership between the two former captains, as Sri Lanka reached lunch on 262 for 3. 

Crucially, Australia had exhausted both of their remaining reviews attempting to overturn not out decisions against each batsmen, and it would prove come back to bite them as Chandimal carried on.  

Mathews, who looked the more comfortable of the two, could only add three more runs to his score after the break however, falling into the trap set by placing a fielder at short leg, where Marnus Labuschagne snapped up an acrobatic catch off Mitchell Starc’s bowling.  

Australia thought they had Chandimal caught behind off Starc’s next over, when Chandimal was late on an attempted uppercut, but umpire Kumar Dharmadasa adjudged that the batsmen had not made contact – a decision that would have been reversed had Cummins not burnt his team’s reviews. 

Hometown boy Kamindu, looked impressive on debut, showing a strong back-foot defensive game, showing no nerves for a young cricket facing one of the world’s best bowling attacks. 

His 133-run partnership with Chandimal was Sri Lanka’s best fifth-wicket partnership against this opposition, taking the hosts past the Australians’ first innings score and to a lead of 38 before he dragged on Mitchell Swepson and was bowled for 61. 

Niroshan Dickwella’s innings was cut short by the sword he lives by, attacking a delivery outside off-stump only to find the fielder at mid-on. 

Ramesn Mendis would have been instructed to see out the remaining 45 minutes of play, and so he did, absorbing 45 balls for seven runs, taking Sri Lanka to stumps in a position of strength.