Dimuth Karunaratne scored his maiden double hundred as Sri Lanka batted through the day without losing a wicket on Saturday to match Bangladesh’s 500-plus score in the first Test.
The Sri Lankan captain ended the fourth day on 234 while middle order batsman Dhananjaya de Silva moved to 154 as the home side reached 512 for three at stumps, still 29 runs behind Bangladesh’s first innings total.
They have added 322 runs for the fourth wicket, the highest stand at Pallekele for any wicket. The previous best was by Australia’s Mike Hussey and Shaun Marsh, who made 258 in 2011, also for the fourth wicket.
Karunaratne passed his career best score of 196, set against Pakistan in 2017, by elegantly driving Taskin Ahmed for four and in the same over reached his first double ton.
The 33-year-old left-hander has now been at the crease for more than 11 hours and faced 419 deliveries, 25 of which have been boundaries.
While his partner, de Silva reached his seventh Test hundred after lunch by pulling Taskin Ahmed for four. He has faced 278 deliveries and hit 20 fours.