Sri Lanka’s batsmen kept a drooping attack at bay but Trent Boult has ensured New Zealand retain the upper hand with two days to play in the first Test.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne scored his maiden Test century and soldiered on to 152 before his dismissal close to stumps on day three left Sri Lanka on 5-293, still needing 10 runs to make the Black Caps bat again.
Until then, the 26-year-old had threatened to swing a fluctuating Test in his team’s favour at 3-277 after they resumed at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on 0-49.
The loss of two wickets in the first eight overs on Sunday didn’t deter left-hander Karunaratne, whose eight-hour vigil featured 17 boundaries but was notable for the curbing of his natural attacking instincts.
Dismissed for a fourth-ball duck in the first innings, he knuckled down to forge partnerships of 85 with opener Kaushal Silva (33), 87 with Lahiru Thirimanne (25) and 96 with captain Angelo Mathews (53 not out).
Boult (3-62), who had earlier snared the key scalp of Kumar Sangakarra for one, clipped Karunaratne’s off stump with a searing delivery in the final hour to reinvigorate the flagging hosts.
He then had Niroshan Dickwella (4) fending to third slip, leaving a sizeable task ahead of the in-form Mathews, nightwatchman Tharinda Kaushal and the tail.
A New Zealand attack which has spent 167.4 overs in the field across two successive innings will hope to wrap proceedings up quickly on Monday.
They bowled tightly but without the seaming zip which was a feature of Sri Lanka’s first innings capitulation for 138.
The best of wicketkeeper BJ Watling’s three catches on Sunday removed Thirimanne in the second session after a disciplined three-hour knock.
Tim Southee (1-54) struck in the first over of the day to remove Silva before Boult claimed the key wicket of a driving Sangakkara, mirroring his cheap first-innings dismissal.
It ended a monumental 2014 at the crease for Sangakkara, whose 2868 runs is a world record for a calendar year across Test, one-day international and Twenty20 formats.
MOST PROLIFIC CALENDAR YEAR
2868 – Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka, 2014)
2833 – Ricky Ponting (Australia, 2005)
2657 – Ponting (2003)
2626 – Rahul Dravid (India, 1999)
2609 – Sangakkara (2006)
