Lasith Embuldeniya finished with figures of 4-71 off 29 overs

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Lasith Embuldeniya took four wickets to give Sri Lanka the upper hand on the third day in Galle, even though New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling scored an unbeaten 63.

Starting off the day on 227/7, Sri Lanka added 15 runs to their overnight score before Suranga Lakmal was clean bowled by Trent Boult for 40.

Niroshan Dickwella struck a 109-ball 61, which included three boundaries, before he was dismissed by William Somerville.

Sri Lanka ended up being bowled out for 267, which gave them an 18-run lead, when Embuldeniya was trapped lbw off the bowling of Somerville.

Ajaz Patel was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets, while Somerville snapped up three and Boult chipped in with two.

Trailing by 18 runs, New Zealand lost opener Jeet Raval early on as he was caught by Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne at cover off the bowling of Dhananjaya de Silva for four runs.

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson also scored four runs before he was removed by Embuldeniya, who also took out Ross Taylor for three runs.

Tom Latham managed to score 45 runs before he was caught by Lahiru Thirimanne at gully off the bowling of Akila Dananjaya.

De Silva took out Henry Nicholls for 26, while Embuldeniya dismissed Mitchell Santner for 12 runs.

Watling and Tim Southee added 54 runs to the score before Southee was removed by Embuldeniya for 23.

Watling and Somerville managed to amass an unbeaten 17-run stand before bad light brought play to an end for the day.

Watling finished on 63, which came off 138 balls and included five boundaries, while Somerville remained undefeated on five.

Embuldeniya was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while De Silva took two and Dananjaya claimed one.

New Zealand ended day three on 195/7, which gives them a 177-run lead, and will continue batting on Saturday at 10:00 local time or 04:30 GMT.