Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya de Silva leads the fight against the West Indies with an unbeaten 153
Dhananjaya de Silva's undefeated 153 brought Sri Lanka closer to a series win over West Indies when they stumped by a commanding 279 run ahead of the second Test on day four.
The 30-year-old all-rounder shared an uninterrupted ninth wicket partnership of 107 with Lasith Embuldeniya to snatch the momentum away from tourists who looked like favorites to win at Galle and level the series.
Sri Lanka started the day 46-2, still three runs back - and with the injured Angelo Mathews forced to break the order - but Dhananjaya added 78 for the fourth wicket with Pathum Nissanka, 66.
Nissanka, who recorded his second half-century of play, fell with the last ball before lunch with lbw against Roston Chase (2-82), and the spinner followed after resuming on Dinesh Chandimal's wicket.
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Ramesh Mendis, 25, helped extend Sri Lanka's lead to over 150, but West Indies seemed in command when Kraigg Brathwaite brought him down and Veerasammy Permaul (3-100) defeated Suranga Lakmal and Mathews.
Embuldeniya, however, joined Dhananjaya at 221-8 and went on to thwart the visitors' bowling attack as his partner continued to build Sri Lanka's leadership, registering its eighth century of testing.
Embuldeniya brought up the century partnership with a six over Chase's head later that day, with Sri Lanka advancing to 328-8 in the end.
The home team only needs to draw a draw to secure the series after winning the first Test, also in Galle, with 187 runs.