Playing in his seventh Test, Mendis was unbeaten on 169 after substantial partnerships with Dinesh Chandimal and then Dhananjay de Silva as Sri Lanka reached 282-6 in their second innings when rain set in.

While the first two days of a rain-affected match were dominated by the bowlers, Mendis managed to tame what had appeared to be a hostile track in a superb innings.

Starting the day on 6 for 1, still 80 runs behind the Australians, the hosts were soon in even deeper trouble when Dimuth Karunaratne was judged lbw against Mitchell Starc without adding to the overnight score.

His departure for a duck brought Mendis to the crease and the 21-year-old began to turn the course of the game with a solid rearguard innings that became increasingly expansive as the day progressed.

Kaushal Silva (7) and captain Angelo Mathews (9) both fell cheaply to spin, before Dinesh Chandimal added the support Mendis needed.

Mendis and Chandimal (42) put on 117 runs in their fifth wicket partnership, with the Australian bowlers hit by the loss of spinner Steve O’Keefe with a pulled hamstring.

Dhananjaya de Silva added 36 in a partnership of 71 with Mendis before he became Nathan Lyon’s 200th Test scalp.

But it was Mendis’ day, who will now take up the charge once again tomorrow should the weather hold.