Dinesh Chandimal celebrates his ton Dinesh Chandimal celebrates his ton 
Sri Lanka are well placed to mount a huge first-innings score after Dinesh Chandimal's century propelled them to 306-3 on day one against New Zealand. (More Cricket News)
After claiming a convincing win in the first Test, hosts Sri Lanka picked up where they left off in Galle.
Chandimal was the star of the show, trundling his way along to 116 from 208 deliveries before he was bowled by Glenn Phillips (1-33).
New Zealand's day started well, with Tim Southee dismissing Pathum Nissanka in the first over, yet Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne (46) put on a second-wicket partnership of 122.
ENG Vs SL, 3rd Test: Nissanka Becomes First SL Opener To Score Hundred In England Since 2011 But it was not just that duo who did the damage for Sri Lanka, with Angelo Mathews clipping his way to 78 not-out and Kamindu Mendis helping himself to an unbeaten half-century before stumps, which brought up a record of eight successive fifties since he made his Test debut.
A world-record 8th consecutive Test fifty since debut! What an incredible achievement from Kamindu Mendis! #SLvNZ pic.twitter.com/vjTn42cAGX
— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) September 26, 2024Sri Lanka got lucky at times, with Daryl Mitchell putting down two catches in the slips while Tom Blundell squandered a great chance to stump Karunaratne, but the Black Caps must now look to recover with a better showing in the field on day two.
Data Debrief: Blundell's century a rare bright spot
While Blundell was left red-faced when he failed to stump Karunaratne, the New Zealand wicketkeeper did have something to smile about on Thursday.
When he caught out Nissanka early on, Blundell became the fifth wicketkeeper to record 100 dismissals for the Black Caps in the longest format (86 catches, 14 stumpings).
Indeed, his tally of stumpings is the most in Test history for New Zealand, which is why his blunder later on was such a bad miss.
For Sri Lanka, meanwhile, Mendis ticked over 900 Test runs across 2024happy day, the second-most of any player this year, behind England's Joe Root (986).