Left was the dominant theme at the Galle International Stadium on a bright, muggy Monday. Two Sri Lankan left-handed middle-order batters made bold statements on Day Three of the first Test, but they were comprehensively shaded by two of India’s three left-arm spinners on a day of rapid progress.

Sonal Dinusha, a 25-year-old playing his fourth Test, and Niroshan Dickwella, recalled to the Test side after nearly three and a half years, rescued the hosts from the morass of 90 for five with an entertaining alliance of 146. But either side of that association, it was India all the way, primarily through their own mix of the new and the seasoned.