Mathews, Chandimal centuries put Sri Lanka in commanding position in Afghanistan Test

Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Mathews put on a record 232-run fourth-wicket partnership on Saturday to leave Sri Lanka in firm control on day two of their one-off Test against Afghanistan in Colombo.
Sri Lanka were leading by 212 runs with four wickets in hand at stumps, with Mathews sent back on the final ball for 141 and Sadeera Samarawickrama (21) still at the crease.
“We have three more days in the game,” veteran opener Dimuth Karunaratne told reporters. “We were planning to bat out the day tomorrow and give everyone an opportunity.”
Chandimal (107) also notched up a century in a partnership that broke a record at the Sinhalese Sports Club that had stood for 32 years.
In 1992, Arjuna Ranatunga and Asanka Gurusinha put on 230 runs for the fourth wicket there in what is fondly remembered as the Shane Warne Test match, when the spin king helped Australia secure a thrilling 16-run win.
Mathews and Chandimal came together after three wickets had fallen in the morning session and Sri Lanka were still 50 runs behind.
The senior batsmen saw off some accurate bowling by the Afghan fast bowlers on a wicket that had flattened out to the detriment of spinners.
“They know how to handle situations,” Karunaratne said of the duo. “They knew that once the spin comes it will be easy for batting. They did pretty well.”
Mathews was the first to the century, cutting Qais Ahmad past backward point for two runs. It was his 16th Test hundred.
His anticlimactic dismissal came when he smashed a full toss from Qais to the boundary but lost balance and crashed onto the stumps to be out hit wicket.
His innings topped his previous best in Sri Lanka of 122 against Pakistan in 2015.
Chandimal got to his 15th Test hundred off Nijat Masood, clipping one past mid-on to the boundary.
Naveed Zadran was rewarded for his discipline when Chandimal was caught behind as Afghanistan found a breakthrough after 62 overs.
New captain Dhananjaya de Silva got off to the worst possible start on the next ball when he was run out.
SCOREBOARDAfghanistan 1st innings 198 all out
Sri Lanka 1st innings (overnight 80-0)
N. Madushka c Noor b Naveed 37
D. Karunaratne c Ibrahim b Qais 77
K. Mendis c Zia b Nijat 10
A. Mathews hit wicket b Qais 141
D. Chandimal c Alikhil b Naveed 107
D. de Silva run out (Hashmatullah) 0
S. Samarawickrama not out 21
Extras (b5, lb5, w5, nb2) 17
Total (six wickets, 101.2 overs) 410
Fall of wickets: 1-93 (N. Madushka), 2-115 (K. Mendis), 3-148 (D. Karunaratne), 4-380 (D. Chandimal), 5-380 (D. de Silva), 6-410 (Mathews)
Bowling: N. Masood 16-3-59-1, M. Saleem 12.1-0-57-0 (nb2), Naveed Zadran 18.5-3-80-2 (w5), Zia-ur-Rehman 28-2-90-0 , Q. Ahmad 21.2-2-93-2, R. Shah 3-0-10-0, H. Shahidi 2-0-11-0