New Zealand spearhead Tim Southee bagged two wickets to help his side tighten the screws against Sri Lanka on the rain-hit fourth day of the first Test here at the University Oval.
At the draw of stumps, Sri Lanka scored 109 for the loss of three wickets in their massive chase of 405-run target, thereby needing 296 more runs for the victory.
Dinesh Chandimal (31) was at the crease and will resume the innings tomorrow with skipper Angelo Mathews on the final day of the Test match, Sport24 reported.
The visitors had a reasonable start to their chase as openers Kusal Mendis (46) and Dimuth Karunaratne (29) provided some resistance by producing 54-run partnership before becoming the victims of Southee.
Udara Jayasundera (3), who came at number three, was unable to spend much time at the crease and was scalped by Neil Wagner.
Earlier, Resuming at the overnight score of 171-1, the hosts declared their second innings for 267-3; with opener Tom Latham and Brendon McCullum unbeaten at their respective scores of 109 and 17.
Kane Williamson also made a significant contribution, playing an innings of 71 runs, which included seven boundaries.
For Lanka, Rangana Herarth claimed two wickets while Dushmantha Chameera also chipped in with a wicket.
