An outstanding hundred by Dhananjaya de Silva had Sri Lanka finishing day four of the second Test against the West Indies in Galle on 328-8.
De Silva (153*) and Lasith Embuldeniya’s ninth-wicket partnership yielded a record 107 runs as they batted through the final session of the day.
The West Indies trail by 279, 11 more than the highest-ever successful run chase in Galle.
De Silva’s back-to-the-wall knock helped the hosts out of trouble when he walked in to bat at 73-3, a lead of just 24.
Having first put up a 78-run stand with overnight batter Pathum Nissanka, De Silva then went on to eke out a crucial partnership of 51 with Ramesh Mendis.
It was De Silva’s eighth Test ton and the 30-year-old ticked over 150 in style by driving Nkrumah Bonner for four.
The West Indies were ruing a dropped catch off De Silva when he was on five, with wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva spilling the chance. The batter made the tourists pay with an excellent counter-attack.
To add insult to injury, Veerasammy Permaul dropped De Silva off his own bowling when he was on 116.
The tourists introduced pace to unsettle the batters, but with a couple of pulled boundaries off Kemar Roach, De Silva ensured that Sri Lanka had the momentum.
Opener Nissanka, playing just his sixth Test match, posted his third half-century in the series with a conservative approach.
Nissanka made 66 before a Roston Chase delivery had him dismissed on the last ball before lunch.
Mendis then lost his wicket and Angelo Mathews – struggling with a hamstring injury – came into bat at the fall of the seventh wicket. He managed just one run.
© Agence France-Presse
