Late strikes keep Black Caps on top

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 an absorbing day three left Sri Lanka on 293-5.

They still need 10 runs to make the Black Caps bat again on a Hagley Oval pitch starting to show signs of wear.

Karunaratne had threatened to swing a fluctuating Test in his team's favour at 277-3 after they resumed at 49-0 on Sunday but lost two wickets inside the first eight overs.

Left-hander Karunaratne's eight-hour vigil 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) 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 and the tail.

Karunaratne says he was on the verge of appealing against bad light before Boult's late double strike.

"It was very difficult to bat because Boult was bowling beautifully. He bowled me two bouncers and I didn't see them," he said.

"It was very frustrating at that time. I wanted to tell the umpires it was difficult and just get to the dressing room."

The 26-year-old was pleased to notch a big score for the first time in 14 Tests after having made numerous sound starts, including four half-centuries.

The early departure of key batsman Sangakkara for one had hardened his resolve.

"We all depend on him, he's a senior man so when he left, I took an anchor role and got my confidence up."

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 and chase down a small target.

Wicketkeeper BJ Watling says they must remain patient against the tourists, who had improved considerably on their first innings of 138.

"There's still plenty of balls going past the outside edge, plenty of opportunities and half chances popping around," he said.

"They didn't score at a fast rate which is good for us, we kept them tight and we stayed in the game that way.

"We got some rewards later on to put us right back in a good position again."

The best of Watling's three catches removed Thirimanne in the only second session breakthrough.

Tim Southee (1-54) snicked out Silva in the first over the day before Boult claimed the key wicket of a driving Sangakkara.

It mirrored his cheap first-innings dismissal and left the Sri Lankan great five short of 12,000 Test runs.