[1]New Zealand's Tim Southee bagged two quick wickets to put Sri Lanka under pressure on the third day of the second and final Test at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo on Tuesday.
The paceman dismissed Angelo Mathews (47) and opener Tharanga Paranavitana (40) in successive overs before Sri Lanka reached 107-5 in their first innings at lunch in reply to New Zealand's 412.
The hosts, who added 64 to their overnight total of 43-3 in the morning session, now need 106 more runs to avoid a follow-on with five wickets in hand.
Prasanna Jayawardene was unbeaten on four at the break with Thilan Samaraweera yet to open his account.
Vice-captain Mathews and Paranavitana added 90 for the fourth wicket after three wickets had fallen for just 12 on Monday.
Paranavitana edged Southee to wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk while Mathews fell to a superb one-handed catch by Martin Guptill, who held the ball low to his right in the slips.
New Zealand earlier had a chance to break the fourth-wicket stand but skipper Ross Taylor dropped Paranavitana at first slip off fast bowler Trent Boult when the batsman was on 32.
Paranavitana then failed to make the most of the opportunity, adding just eight more runs before he was caught behind to become Southee's third victim of the innings.
Southee, who also removed opener Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara on Monday, has so far taken four wickets for 35 runs off 14 overs.
Mathews, 20 overnight, played some aggressive shots in the morning as he lofted off-spinner Jeetan Patel over wide long-on for the first six of the innings and then cut the bowler past point for a four.
Skipper Ross Taylor (142), Kane Williamson (135) and Daniel Flynn (53) were the main scorers for New Zealand in the first innings, while left-arm spinner Rangana Herath grabbed six wickets for Sri Lanka.
The hosts lead the series 1-0 following their 10-wicket victory in the opening Test in Galle.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/tim-southeeap0jpgcropdisplayjpg-673