NEW DELHI, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews and his successor Dinesh Chandimal dug deep in a burgeoning 117-run stand to help the tourists to 192 for three at lunch on day three of the third and final test against India on Monday.
Beginning the day 405 runs behind India’s first innings total of 536 for seven declared, the onus was on the right-handers to spearhead Sri Lanka’s battle for survival at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
The duo overcame occasional discomforts to deny India in the morning session with Mathews, who scored the last of his seven test centuries in 2015, on 90 not out, which included 11 boundaries and two sixes.
Chandimal was on 52, the duo having displayed the kind of application that has been largely lacking among the tourists who trail 1-0 after succumbing to their worst defeat in the second test in Nagpur.
After the second day was blighted by complaints of air pollution by the visitors, they resumed on a slightly hazy morning on 131 for three and found themselves at the receiving end of Mohammad Shami’s fiery four-over spell during which the Indian paceman did everything right except take a wicket.
Chandimal took a single off Ravichandran Ashwin to bring up Sri Lanka’s first 100-plus partnership in the series, while his seventh boundary brought up his third successive fifty but Sri Lanka, still 344 behind, will need the duo to continue the rebuilding job after the break. (Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
