Colombo [Sri Lanka], August 27 : A resilient half-century from Sonal Dinusha and his century partnership with Keshara Nuwantha kept Sri Lanka's hope for a draw alive as they ended the first session of the final day of the second Test at Colombo on Thursday without losing any wickets.
At the end of the first session, SL was 329/6, with Dinusha (55*) and Nuwantha (46*). They led by 116 runs.
Sri Lanka started the final day at 229/6, with Dinusha (7*) and Nuwantha (3*) unbeaten. They were leading by 16 runs.
Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Manav Suthar could not find wickets, and India took the new ball in the 82nd over.
Dinusha and Nuwantha stitched the partnership, taking Sri Lanka beyond the 250-run mark in the 80th over.
By the drinks break, Sri Lanka had attained a 71-run lead, and Team India looked to be struggling for answers against SL's resistance, with time running out.
Nuwantha upped the ante, getting two boundaries against Mohammed Siraj in the 90th over, with Dinusha getting some runs against Jadeja in the next over, bringing SL to the 300-run mark in 91 overs.
Dinusha and Nuwantha helped SL's lead go beyond the 100-run mark, with Dinusha reaching yet another fifty in 99 balls, with two fours. This was his fourth fifty-plus score of the series.
The duo also reached the 100-run stand in 203 balls.
Nuwantha, who was given out LBW against Jadeja, survived the DRS review, and the Lankan Lions ended the session unscathed.
India: 503/9 (Devdutt Padikkal 117, Dhruv Jurel 115*, Asitha Fernando 4/106) vs Sri Lanka: 290 and 329/6 (Pasindu Sooriyabandara 92, Kamindu Mendis 55, Manav Suthar 2/98).