New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- Sonal Dinusha, who scored a hundred in the first Test in Galle, once again stood tall in Colombo as Sri Lanka finished a rain-interrupted Day 3 at 265/8 in response to India's first innings total of 503/9 on Tuesday. At a time when it looked like India would enforce a follow-on by a huge margin, the hosts resisted, spearheaded by Sonal Dinusha and Pasindu Sooriyabandara.

Dinusha (85 batting) and Lahiru Kumara (8 batting) were at the crease when stumps were drawn early because of rain and bad light. Sri Lanka still need 38 runs to avoid the follow-on. Once the hosts resumed from the Tea score of 216/7, they were staring at an earlier end to the innings.

But Dinusha notched up his third 50-plus score in as many innin...