Sonal Dinusha and Manav Suthar were the standout performers on Day 3 for the two sides. (AP Photo/BCCI-Creimas Photo)Day Three, generally considered the moving day in a Test, didn’t exactly move the way India wanted. After they ended up with 462 in their first innings, the Galle weather was kind to them, ensuring no time was lost.And when a collective effort from their attack reduced Sri Lanka to 90/5 by the 27th over, the visitors smelt a big opening. Bowl out the opposition as quickly as possible and enforce the follow-on, giving ample time to their bowlers to force a win.Instead, all-rounder Sonal Dinusha’s maiden Test century and Niroshan Dickwella’s 80 extricated Sri Lanka out of the hole, taking the team to 484 before being dismissed, ensuring India would have to bat again. With scattered thunderstorms predicted for the next two days, and the pitch on the slower side, India would need to play exceptional cricket from here to take a series lead.Having taken stumps at 460/9 on Sunday, India didn’t declare at their overnight score, but their innings lasted only four more deliveries. So they didn’t lose the advantage of letting their seamers make the most of the morning conditions. Thanks to the sweating under the covers, there was a bit of movement early on to go with the breeze. And immediately giving India the breakthrough was Mohammed Siraj, who made Nishan Fernando edge one to the cordon, where Devdutt Padikkal held on to a sharp catch.But the seamers didn’t cause much trouble thereafter, and Shubman Gill turned to Manav Suthar, who struck with his first delivery, removing Dinesh Chandimal. Then Lahiru Udara gifted the spinner his second wicket before Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja got into the act to remove Kamindu Mendis and Dhanajaya de Silva respectively.Mendis was undone by the dip going with a drive, with Gill plucking a one-handed catch inches off the turf. De Silva was caught by KL Rahul, who ensured he stayed low at slip and got his fingers underneath the ball as it all began to unravel quickly for the home team.FightbackThe challenge began only after half the side was sent back to the pavilion. As soon as Dickwella got in, he chose to go on the offense, with his sweep shots in particular upsetting the Indian spinners.Story continues below this adAhead of the Test, Dickwella’s inclusion had become a big talking point, with questions raised over his career record (batting average 30.97, 21 50s and no centuries). Many asked why did the selectors go back to a 33-year-old who played his last Test in 2023. Even on the domestic circuit, he didn’t have the numbers to warrant a comeback. But more than the batting, Sri Lanka claimed it was Dickwella’s glovework that brought him into the XI.With Dinusha measured in his approach, cutting out risk and playing deliveries on merit, Dickwella cut loose as and when he intended. At most times, it was the sweep shot he fell back on as the safest and most effective option. Mostly sweeping deliveries in the 3m range, he would either play them square or in front of square depending on the line.Dinusha, on the other hand, was different in his use of the sweep. He mostly preferred slog-sweeps and reverse-sweeps, but the bulk of his runs came in singles and twos as he had only four boundaries and two sixes to show in his knock of 100, before being trapped in front by Jadeja.Despite having three tweakers, how India would have wished to have an off-spinner in the XI.Story continues below this adThere was Kuldeep to take the ball away from the left-hander, but being the slowest of them all, and deliveries not getting enough venom off the surface, both left-handers had no problem in making him toil. The liberal use of the sweep resulted in Kuldeep not hitting the right lengths consistently. That he had no maiden to show and went at 4.64 runs an over was a telling statistic. He couldn’t build pressure as much as he would have liked. But it wasn’t all doom for the wrist-spinner. When he attacked the line of the stumps, he posed questions.Left is rightJadeja and Suthar were both relentless, but contrasting in their approach. Suthar was slower, while Jadeja who picked up his 350th Test wicket on Monday, did what he knows best – keeping it tight at all times. But Dickewella and Dinusha used his angle to their advantage.The 146-run stand for the sixth wicket looked set to be a bigger one. Once the Kookaburra went soft, the Indian spinners struggled for purchase and even the Galle strip was unusually docile. Maybe the presence of dead grass meant it didn’t break as much as one expected, but it is known to be notorious from Day 4. So India, when they come out to bat on Tuesday morning, would hope the spinners play a bigger role to play as it would only offer encouraging signs for their attack.Once Prasidh Krishna broke the big stand by removing Dickwella for 80, Sri Lanka’s innings didn’t move at a rapid pace. Although Dinusha did well to hold on to an end and coast to his maiden century, once the monopoly of the left-handers was broken, the spinners again came into play.Story continues below this adWith a 178-run lead on board, India would like it to swell to 350 in quick time, thereby giving their attack enough time to bowl the hosts out, weather gods permitting.