South African spinner Keshav Maharaj took three top-order Sri Lankan wickets on day one of the second Test after Sri Lanka started strongly on Friday. Maharaj struck with his left-arm spin to break a 116-run opening stand between openers Danushka Gunathilaka, who scored 57, and Dimuth Karunaratne, who made 53, on a seemingly turning Colombo pitch.

Sri Lanka, who won the opening Test in Galle last week, elected to bat in its bid to clinch the two-match series. Dhanajaya de Silva, on 19, and Angelo Mathews, on 10 were batting at the break. Gunathilaka and Karunaratne mixed caution and aggression to keep the South African bowling attack at bay as they moved to 93-0 at lunch.