Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jaya-wardene took over from Sanath Jayasuriya as his country's leading run-maker as the hosts pulverized England in the second Test in Colombo yesterday.
Jayawardene made 167-not-out and Michael Vandort hit 138 as Sri Lanka, replying to England's first innings total of 351, piled up 379-4 by stumps on the third day at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC).
Sri Lanka go into the fourth day's play leading by 28 runs with six wickets in hand and almost certain to put England under pressure when the tourists bat a second time.
Jayawardene surpassed the recently retired Jayasuriya's career tally of 6,973 runs and also equaled Aravinda de Silva's Sri Lankan record of 20 Test centuries.
The 30-year-old now has 7,030 runs from 92 Tests, while Jayasuriya played 110 matches before retiring from the longer format of the game after the first Test in Kandy last week.
Jayawardene shone once again on his favorite hunting ground where he scored 374 against South Africa two years ago during a world-record stand of 624 with Kumar Sangakkara (287).
The Sri Lankan captain has 2,034 runs from 19 matches at the SSC, the most by any batsman at a single venue, surpassing former England captain Graham Gooch's 2015 runs from 21 Tests at Lord's in London.
Jayawardene, who hit 13 fours and a six, and Vandort put on 227 for the third wicket after coming together in the post-lunch session of the second day with Sri Lanka struggling at 22-2.
The pair batted through yesterday's morning period before left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom broke the stand with his fourth delivery with the second new ball an hour after lunch by trapping Vandort leg-before.
Vandort hit 18 boundaries, and a six off Monty Panesar, but failed by two runs to surpass his Test best of 140 against Bangladesh in 2002.
Chamara Silva helped his captain put on 128 for the fourth wicket, making 49 before he fended a short ball from Steve Harmison to Ravi Bopara at point.
England, who lost the first Test by 88 runs, were denied quick wickets after they had removed the prolific Sangakkara and Upul Tharanga cheaply on Monday.
Sangakkara's wicket had raised the tourists' hopes after the left-hander hit 152 in Kandy to become the first batsman in history to compile 150-plus scores in four consecutive Tests.
But England were frustrated by the slow wicket that offered no assistance to the bowlers.
The nearest England came to taking a wicket in the morning session was when Panesar got one to spin sharply across Jayawardene's bat, but wicketkeeper Matthew Prior failed to take the thin edge.
Jayawardene moved to 88 when he edged Harmison to gully where Ian Bell dived in front, but indicated to the umpires he had picked up the ball on the half-volley and was not claiming a catch.
Kevin Pietersen was given out similarly on the first day after umpire Daryl Harper declined to call for television replays which showed that Chamara Silva had grassed the ball before holding it.
Sidebottom was England's most successful bowler on the slow pitch, claiming three wickets for 72 runs. Panesar went for 111 runs from his 32 overs.
■ India v Pakistan
Misbah-ul-Haq put India's attack to the sword with a second successive century to boost Pakistan's hopes of forcing a draw in the third and final Test in Bangalore yesterday.
The middle-order batsman followed his second-Test 161 with a brilliant 133-not-out as Pakistan warded off a threat of follow-on to post 537 in their first innings in reply to India's 626.
India were strongly placed to clinch their first Test series against Pakistan at home since 1980 after reaching 131-2 in their second innings at stumps on the penultimate day for an overall lead of 220.
The hosts lead 1-0 in the series, with the final Test heading for a draw.
India lost openers Gautam Gambhir (three) and Wasim Jaffer (18) before former captains Sourav Ganguly (63-not-out) and Rahul Dravid (35-not-out) steadied the innings with an unfinished 105-run stand for the third wicket.
Ganguly, who smashed a maiden Test double-hundred in the first innings, raced to his half-century off 57 balls with a six off leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and nine fours.
The hosts needed a couple of early wickets in the morning to improve their chances of victory after Pakistan had resumed at 369-5, but had to wait for two sessions to wrap up the innings on a track where the ball sometimes kept low.
India also earned the dubious distinction of conceding a record 76 extras in a Test innings, surpassing the previous highest of 71 by the West Indies against Pakistan at Georgetown in 1988.
The sundries were the third-highest contributor in the innings after Misbah and stand-in captain Younis Khan (80).
Misbah, who had played just seven Tests before this series since his debut in 2001, was Pakistan's find of the tour as he remained a thorn in India's flesh with scores of 82, 45, 161-not-out, six and 133-not-out in five innings.
■ TWENTY20
A late night of drinking provided an unexpected dividend for Luke Pomersbach when he was called up to make his international debut for Australia in yesterday's Twenty20 match against New Zealand at the WACA in Perth.
The 23-year-old is currently banned from playing in the Australian domestic first-class competition after breaching his team's strict rules on late-night drinking, but the suspension proved a blessing in disguise.
While his Western Australian team mates were preparing for their next match, Pomersbach decided to fill in his spare time by watching yesterday's Twenty20 international from the ground.
But when he arrived at the WACA with his girlfriend, he received a surprise call from the Australian team management asking him if he could play because middle-order batsman Brad Hodge had suffered a bizarre back injury in the changing room.
"The Australian manager rang me just as I was parking my car, and I thought it was one of my mates having a joke," Pomersbach told reporters. "I asked him whether he was joking, and he said `No mate, get yourself to the rooms as quick as you can.'"
Pomersbach made his way to the dressing room to meet his illustrious team mates then made another big impression when he got the chance to play, scoring a brisk 15 off seven balls, including a six and a four, before falling in the last over of Australia's innings.
Australia (186-6) beat New Zealand (132) by 54 runs.
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