1st Test, Day 3: Sri Lanka vs Australia - As it happened...

Kusal Mendis was the hero for Sri Lanka on Day 3 of the first Test with his maiden ton.

New Delhi: Kusal Mendis maiden Test ton came at a crucial time for Sri Lanka. The hosts, who were on the backfoot on Day 2, were in commanding position at stumps on Day 3 as Mendis remained unbeaten on 169.

Day 3 - As it happened...

Over 80 | Score 282/6 | (Mendis 169*, Perera 5*)

End of play as players have walked off the field due to poor light.

Lyon scalped the sixth wicket when Silva ended up giving an easy catch towards mid-off while trying to clear the cover region. With that wicket, Lyon also completed 200 Test wickets.

The day belonged to Mendis, who has turned the tide in the favour of the hosts, who are currently leading by 196 runs with four wickets remaining.

DM de Silva c Khawaja b Lyon 36 (62b)

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Over 70 | Score 253/5 | (Mendis 157*, Silva 24*)

Mendis has been batting extremely well. Having realised that wicket might keep tumbling from the other end, Mendis has attacked the spinners pretty well. The session belonged to Sri Lanka and now that they lead by 167 runs with five batsmen to come, it won't be wrong to say that they are the ones in the driver's seat now.

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Over 65 | Score 227/5 | (Mendis 139*, Silva 16*)

Mitchell Marsh got the much-needed breakthrough for Australian when he trapped Chandimal in front of the wicket. That was also the end of the 117-run for the fifth wicket for the Lankans. Mendis is still going strong and it is vital from Sri Lanka's perspective that he bats for a longer period. Dhananjaya de Silva is the new man in and from his performance from the first innings, we can expect him to entertain the crowd with some good strokes.

LD Chandimal lbw b Marsh 42 (100b)

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Over 55 | Score 192/4 | (Mendis 128*, Chandimal 35*)

Mendis and Chandimal continue to do the good work. While no wickets have fallen for quite some time, these two have kept the scoreboard moving as well. The partnership for the fifth wicket is now worth 106 runs – a tremendous effort considering they were wobbling at 86/4 at one stage. Australia need a breakthrough as early as possible.

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Over 45 | Score 145/4 | (Mendis 103*, Chandimal 19*)

Under precarious circumstances, Mendis has slammed his maiden century. Both the batsmen are showing some positive intent. Mendis tonked Nathan Lyon over deep midwicket for a Six to reach the three-figure mark. Chandimal too, is capable of playing big innings and Sri Lanka need their experienced campaigner to support Mendis as long as possible.

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Over 38 | Score 100/4 | (Mendis 86*, Chandimal 7*)

LUNCH! Mendis is just 14 runs short of what would be a brilliant century considering the circumstances. He had looked very patient today but has not hesitating in giving loose deliveries the right treatment. Lankans now lead by 30 runs. With just six wickets remaining, their aim might be to block as many balls as possible after lunch.

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Over 35 | Score 100/4 | (Mendis 75*, Chandimal 2*)

Nathan Lyon dismissed Angelo Mathews the moment the scores were levelled. The ball got some part of Mathews' glove and went to short leg for an easy catch. Soft dismissal, but a big wicket this. Mathews and Mendis added 41 runs for the fourth wicket. Dinesh Chandimal is the new man in and the hosts need a much better knock from him today.

AD Mathews c Burns b Lyon 9 (31b)

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Over 25 | Score 83/3 | (Mendis 63*, Mathews 7*)

Mendis and Mathews are rebuilding the innings nicely after Mendis hit the first fifty of the match. These two have so far added 38 runs so far and Mathews has supported him well so far.  

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Over 15 | Score 49/3 | (Mendis 34*, Mathews 4*)

Australian picked the second wicket of the day when Silva failed to read one from O'Keefe. It was a quick delivery and despite the batsman reviewing the decision, there was no doubt that he was gone. Angelo Mathews is the new man in and being an experienced campaigner, he needs to stand there with Silva, who is looking good at the crease.

JK Silva lbw b O'Keefe 7 (32b)

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Over 5 | Score 7/2 | (Silva 2*, Mendis 1*)

Continuing his incomeplete over from Day 2, Starc got another breakthrough as he trapped Karunaratne in front of the wicket. The pace of the delivery was too much to handle for the batsman. Kaushal Silva and Kusal Mendis need to stitch a partnership here.

FDM Karunaratne lbw b Starc 0 (3b)

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Hello and welcome to our live updates from Day 3!

The visitors were in a commanding position before rain interrupted play on Day 2 after Mitchell Starc got them an early breakthrough in the form of Kusal Perera.

Opener Kaushal Silva was unbeaten on 2 before players walked off the field.

Despite being bowled for 203 on Day 2, Australia were in the driver's seat as they managed to take an 86-run lead.

Angelo Mathews should be proud of the way his bowlers fought on the second day, where the hosts scalped eight wickets.

After Rangana Herath dented the Australian innings with his variation, debutant Sandakan joined the party with an impressive four-wicket haul on his debut.

Adam Voges was the highest scorer for Australia with 41 runs.