Nissanka 187 leads SL's solid reply after Bangladesh post 495

Partnerships were the name of the game for Sri Lanka as every top-order batter chipped in to whittle away at Bangladesh's healthy first-innings total of 495. By stumps, Sri Lanka's deficit had been trimmed to just 127.

A majority of it was cut down courtesy Pathum Nissanka, who struck a career-best 187 off 256 balls. It was his first ton on home soil, and a knock that had seen him dominate from the first new ball to the second. He would have been eyeing a maiden Test double hundred - to go with one in ODIs - but that second new ball and the unpredictability of a wobble seam combined to dislodge him, as Hasan Mahmud sneaked an inducker through bat and pad late in the day.

That wicket may end up keeping Bangladesh's heads from dropping heading into day four, after the Sri Lanka batters had spent the majority of day three steadily shaking out any confidence the visitors may have gathered during their dominance on the opening two days.

Nissanka was part of four steady stands, alongside Lahiru Udara, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis, which were worth 47, 157, 89, and 38, respectively. More pressingly for Bangladesh, the scoring during each of these stands came at a fair clip, with Sri Lanka's run rate consistently hovering around four an over.

But even following Nissanka's dismissal, any respite seemed short lived as Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu already sped to a stand of 37 off 45 deliveries by the end of play. For Bangladesh, the four wickets were shared equally among Mahmud, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mominul Haque. But with three of the five bowlers employed going at over four runs runs an over, it was a tough day out for the visitors.

On a surface that had started showing signs of deterioration - but one that was still good for batting by Galle's usual day three standards - Sri Lanka's batters showed Bangladesh where theirs had faltered. Well, as much as you could falter having scored 495.

Bangladesh had spent the first two days content at progressing at a touch above three runs an over, rarely shifting pressure on to the Sri Lanka bowlers. In the end, it proved to be the difference between a total of near-500 and perhaps 600.

Fine margins, usually, but with Sri Lanka knocking off 75% of Bangladesh's total in just three sessions, there now lies the very real possibility that Bangladesh could be asked to bat out day five - rain allowing - just to save the Test. And while this Galle surface has been more batter-friendly than usual, the ball misbehaved occasionally, and you imagine that will only get more frequent over the next two days.

That said, Sri Lanka still have work to do to make that possibility a reality. But you wouldn't back against them judging by how they went about their batting across the day.

Aside from a brief period before tea, when scoring slowed to a trickle, Sri Lanka's batters had it all their own way. This was down to a combination of positive intent from the batters, and some inconsistent lines and lengths from the Bangladesh bowlers. Nissanka, in particular, was batting with supreme authority: anything short was dispatched square, and anything overpitched was laced through the covers.

His aggression, and ability to alleviate even small periods of pressure with a boundary or two, meant the pressure on his partners was kept to a minimum. It saw Chandimal notch up a 33rd Test fifty, while Mathews, too, might have enjoined a similar milestone if not for being at the end of one of those rare deliveries that misbehaved. Mominul, the part-timer, got one to dip and turn past Mathews' forward defence, tickling the outside edge on the way.

Each of the wickets to fall, in fact, were against the run of play. Debutant Udara had made it look a far cry from his first Test during a fluent 34-ball 29, before chipping a leading edge back to Taijul. Chandimal, meanwhile, clipped a leg-side offbreak low to leg slip off Nayeem.

But with each wicket, Sri Lanka simply dusted themselves off and set about putting together another brisk stand. It was a sharp contrast from Bangladesh's innings, which had two mammoth stands in the middle, but either side of those had only one reach even 20.

Sri Lanka had begun the day with similar efficiency, wrapping up the Bangladesh innings inside the first 15 minutes of the morning session. Asitha Fernando did the honours, ending with figures of 4 for 86.