Former captains Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal have combined for 147 to earn Sri Lanka a 202-run lead against New Zealand after three days of the first test in Galle.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are engaged in a tense Test match in Galle. New Zealand took a 35-run lead after their first innings, but Sri Lanka responded well, trailing by three runs with nine wickets in hand.

Half-centuries from Tom Latham and Kane Williamson put New Zealand at 255-4 and in hot pursuit of Sri Lanka on day two of the first Test on Thursday. The Black Caps trailed by 50 at stumps in Galle with Daryl Mitchell (41) and Tom Blundell (18) to resume in the morning.

Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne forged a 147-run partnership to propel hosts Sri Lanka to a lead of 202 on day three of the first Test against New Zealand on Friday. Sri Lanka drew first blood in the morning when Tom Blundell was given out caught after a review,

New Zealand 255 for 4 (Latham 70, Williamson 55, Dhananjaya 2-31) trail Sri Lanka 305 (Kamindu 114, Kusal 50, O'Rourke 5-55) by 50 runs Partnerships were the name of the game as New Zealand strung together several of significance to come within 50 runs of Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 305 at stumps on day two in Galle.