Close Zimbabwe 230 for 5 (Gripper 83, Carlisle 64) trail Sri Lanka (418 all out) by 188 runs
scorecard

For all but an hour of the third day's play at Galle Zimbabwe's batsmen were in control. In that hour, however, five wickets fell for 18 runs. Even though Zimbabwe recovered enough to avoid the follow-on, Sri Lanka ended the day in a commanding position.

Until three overs before tea Trevor Gripper (83) and Stuart Carlisle (64) had doggedly resisted the Sri Lanka bowlers, mixing dour defence with occasional flurries of attacking strokes in a first-wicket stand of 153 which had lasted over four hours.

But the heart of the Zimbabwean innings was ripped out either side of the interval and for once it was not Muttiah Muralitharan who made the breakthrough. Sanath Jayasuriya (3 for 38) lured Gripper out of his crease and Kumar Sangakkara completed the stumping (153 for 1), and in his next over Jayasuriya trapped Craig Wishart leg-before for 1 (155 for 2).

Things got worse for Zimbabwe after the break. Muralitharan (2 for 66) ended Carlisle's five-and-a-half hour innings when he had him leg-before (161 for 3) and then grabbed the prized wicket of the out-of-sorts Andy Flower, caught at gully by Hashan Tillekeratne for 6 after mistiming a drive (171 for 4). When Jayasuriya had Gavin Rennie caught by Sangakkara for 7 (175 for 5), Zimbabwe still needed another 47 to avoid following-on for the third time in the series. But Heath Streak (29*) and Grant Flower (19*) guided them past that embarrassment and ensured that they reached the close with no further setbacks.

The afternoon collapse was all the more surprising given the relative ease with which Gripper and Carlisle had batted. Gripper, a limited batsman who has made the most of his ability and relies on a sound defence, had crawled to 3 from 51 balls on the second evening. He accelerated slightly in the morning but really came out of his shell after the break, twice using his feet to drive Muralitharan for straight fours and then sweeping him to the midwicket boundary.

Carlisle, who hit his Test-best score, was quieter, but he was not averse to playing the occasional aggressive stroke, the pick of which of which was a fine legside flick off Charitha Buddika for four.

With Muralitharan just three wickets short of 400, Zimbabwe will need to show as much resolve when they bat for the second time if Sri Lanka are to be denied a clean sweep.

Teams
Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Russel Arnold, 6 Hashan Tillekaratne, 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Upul Chandana, 10 Charitha Buddika, 11 Muttiah Muralitharan.

Zimbabwe 1 Trevor Gripper, 2 Stuart Carlisle (capt), 3 Craig Wishart, 4 Gavin Rennie, 5 Andy Flower (wk), 6 Grant Flower, 7 Heath Streak, 8 Dion Ebrahim, 9 Doug Marillier, 10 Travis Friend, 11 Henry Olonga.

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