Sonal Dinusha and Pasindu Sooriyabandara led a stubborn Sri Lankan fightback as India struggled to dismiss the lower order, with the hosts reaching 265 for eight at stumps on day three of the second Test here on Tuesday.
Dinusha (85 batting) and Lahiru Kumara (8 batting) were at the crease when play was called off early due to rain and bad light.
Sri Lanka still need 38 runs to avoid the follow-on after India amassed 503 for nine in their first innings.
Once the hosts resumed from their tea score of 216 for seven, they appeared to be heading towards an early end to their innings.
But Dinusha notched up his third 50-plus score in as many innings in this series to keep the Indians at bay across two sessions.
A diminutive left-hander, Dinusha displayed towering spirit and technical nous to counter the Indian bowlers.
Prasidh tested him with lifters and toe-crushers, while the spinners, Manav Suthar, Ravindra Jadeja and Saransh Jain, repeatedly challenged his awareness of the lines.
The 25-year-old, however, came through those tough passages with flying colours, leaving the Indians frustrated for 201 minutes.
Dinusha, who reached his fifty in 84 balls, also found two equally resolute companions in Keshara Nuwantha and Lahiru Kumara.
With Nuwantha, he added 57 runs for the eighth wicket, with the latter playing out 74 balls. Dinusha then added 35 runs for the ongoing ninth wicket with Kumara, who faced 50 balls in 65 minutes.
The Indians will be massively disappointed to see an old failing against tail-end batters resurfacing at a very inopportune moment at the SSC ground.
But before they hit the roadblock, India appeared to have primed themselves to bring Sri Lanka's innings to an early end, reducing the hosts to 216 for seven at tea.
In the pre-lunch session, Sri Lanka remained competitive despite losing two wickets, adding 122 runs.
In the middle session, however, the visiting bowlers took command of the proceedings, claiming four wickets while conceding just 86 runs.
India inflicted an early jolt on Sri Lanka as left-arm spinner Suthar found his correct length.
Suthar forced Dhananjaya de Silva to edge one to KL Rahul, who held on to the catch at the second attempt at first slip.
From that point, there was no respite for the Lankan batters.
But the body blow was the dismissal of Sooriyabandara (80), who had batted with a rare mix of patience and elegance.
Jadeja, who made only a cameo appearance in the opening session of the day, bowled one close to Sooriyabandara's body. The batter's attempt to guide the ball down to point saw his stumps rearranged.
Two runs later, Mohammad Siraj accounted for Niroshan Dickwella with a rather innocuous delivery down the leg side, which the Lankan batter edged to Dhruv Jurel.
Before their late evening fightback, Sri Lanka had their moments in the first session too, courtesy of a good 87-run alliance for the third wicket between Sooriyabandara and Kamindu Mendis.
Starting from eight for two, the home side showed better spirit in the opening passage of the day, which was also spiced up by verbal exchanges between Sarfaraz Khan, substituting for Rishabh Pant, Siraj and the Lankan batters.
Before the Lankans gained some foothold, India began the day brightly, dismissing overnight batter Kamil Mishara (19).
Mishara failed to deal with a viciously rising delivery from Prasidh, fending it to stumper Jurel.
But Sooriyabandara and Mendis thwarted India's hopes of making further inroads into the Lankan top order for nearly two hours.
They tackled the bowlers with little nerves and hardly allowed the two spinners, Suthar and debutant Jain, to settle down.
The off-spinner Jain procured some bounce and turn, but the Lankan duo handled that rather comfortably.
Sooriyabandara, who was playing his second Test, was the lead act of that third-wicket alliance.
The elegant right-hander reached his maiden Test fifty in 76 balls.
Mendis, on the other hand, smashed Suthar for a six over mid-wicket to announce his intentions.
But Prasidh, who bowled two lively spells, broke the blooming alliance with another snorter aimed at the throat of Mendis, who pulled it straight into the hands of Jadeja at mid-wicket.
India also fetched back the stalled momentum with that wicket and the hostile spell of Prasidh.
(With inputs from PTI)