A strong and unbeaten partnership of 131 between Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva put Sri Lanka in a commanding position at tea of the first day of the Boxing Day Test at Centurion on Saturday.
Sri Lanka ended the first session on 102/3 after 25 overs but they added 110 runs without losing a wicket during the second session to take their total score to 212/3 at tea after 52 overs as the South African bowlers continued to struggle.
They will resume for the third session with Chandimal (50) and Dickwella (11) on the crease and looking to continue pilling on the runs in the final session and give their team a significant advantage.
Proteas were lucky to see the highly-promising partnership of Chandimal and De Silva broken during the second session as the latter left the field in agony after what looked like a serious thigh injury.
De Silva, who looked assured on the field with his attacking play, retired hurt on 79 off 106 balls and he was replaced by Dickwella.
In the first session, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Wiaan Mulder claimed a wicket apiece as the Proteas restricted Sri Lanka to 102/3 after 25 overs.
The wickets to fall before lunch were that of captain Dimuth Karunaratne (22), Kusal Mendis (12) and Kusal Perera (16) as the South African bowlers found joy on the pitch that had a little bit of green grass on it.
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