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by Sa'adi Thawfeeq reporting from Galle

GALLE, Monday - Zimbabwe had another good day on the field in the third and final cricket Test against Sri Lanka being played at the Galle International Stadium here when they averted the follow-on and for once, looked like applying pressure on the home side in the three-Test series which they have already conceded 2-0.

A record opening partnership of 153 between skipper Stuart Carlisle and Trevor Gripper saw Zimbabwe end the third day at 230 for five wickets in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings of 418. Zimbabwe still trail by 188 runs, and will be looking to get as close as possible to the Sri Lankan total to give themselves a chance of at least coming out with a face-saving draw.

Sri Lanka failed to breakthrough the Carlisle-Gripper partnership till 14 minutes before the tea break. It was not achieved by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who was looking for his 400th Test wicket, but by the left-arm spin of Sanath Jayasuriya.

Jayasuriya tempted Gripper to come down the wicket and had him stumped yards out of his crease by wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara for 83, the highest individual score made by Zimbabwe in the series.

That wicket signalled a batting collapse as five wickets stumbled for 18 runs and at 171 for five, Zimbabwe looked in danger of being asked to follow-on.

But Grant Flower (19) and Heath Streak (29) showed the same approach as Carlisle and Gripper to deny Sri Lanka of any further success. They have so far added 59 runs in an unbroken stand for the sixth wicket which has lasted 84 minutes.

"At the moment we are only five down and I am hoping to get a pretty big partnership from Grant and Heath tomorrow. We still got Dion Abraham to come in and who knows we might even get in front of them. The whole picture will then reverse," said Zimbabwe captain Carlisle at the end of the day.

"We told the boys there is no point we have lost the series 2-0, but we can gain everything from the Test. We can really try and go out there and win in it or even if we come up with a draw, it'll great for us because we are going to India in a couple of weeks.

"It was very clear in our minds that we had to come out in the third Test and really try and mean business and finish off at least in the right direction," he said.

Muralitharan searching for his 400th Test wicket removed Carlisle for 64 and Andy Flower for six to take his overall tally to 397 wickets in his 72nd Test and will have to wait until tomorrow or the Zimbabwe second innings to get to the mark. He reeled off 53 overs today for figures of two wickets for 66 runs.

"It was a real challenge playing Murali especially on a wicket like this and the last thing we want to do is give him wickets. I am sure the guys will come out hard tomorrow and try not to give him those wickets," said Carlisle.

"One of the main strategies against Murali was to avoid going off the back foot and to play him forward. You have just got to be patient playing Murali. Jayasuriya bowled pretty well today and he got a couple to really grip later on," he said. "In the morning we got the heavy roller on and the wicket played better today at least in the morning. It turned slowly in the morning and as the day started getting on, and the ball started getting softer, it began shooting low and it started getting a bit harder.

"If you look at that pitch you can see how dusty it was getting towards the end. It wasn't an easy pitch obviously. It suited the spinners, but we grafted well. I am really happy for Gripper. He played really well and our combination really worked. I was a bit tentative but I ground in quite a bit," said Carlisle.

Zimbabwe's opening partnership was broken by Jayasuriya who in a spell of 14 overs of left-arm spin captured three wickets for 16 runs.

Beginning the day at 18 for no loss, Zimbabwe made a bold reply when Carlisle and Gripper put on 153 for the first wicket off 81.1 overs before being separated shortly before tea.

Gripper batted for 278 minutes for his 83, facing 247 balls and hitting 10 fours in his knock. With his captain he erased the previous highest opening partnership against Sri Lanka of 113 between Grant Flower and Mark Dekker at Harare in 1994-95.

The stand fell 11 runs short of equalling Zimbabwe's first wicket record against all countries.

Jayasuriya struck immediately in his next over and the last before tea by trapping Craig Wishart leg before for one without offering a shot.

Carlisle playing the percentage game and not taking any chances was unbeaten on 63 at the break. But after adding just one run to his score he went back to Muralitharan and was trapped in front of the wicket. He batted for 326 minutes and faced 274 balls hitting four fours. Muralitharan who started the Test with 395 wickets had to wait for 39 overs for his first wicket.

Muralitharan also took the prize wicket of Andy Flower when he had him edging a catch to second slip Hashan Tillakaratne for six.

Gavin Rennie was unlucky to be given out caught behind by Kumar Sangakkara off Jayasuriya for seven when he pushed forward and the ball appeared to come off his front pad.

Stuart promoting himself to open the batting in the absence of Masakadza, who is away in New Zealand for the under 19 World Cup, and Gripper, battled it out with the Sri Lankan spinners on a slow turning pitch to give Zimbabwe their best start in the series. The pair passed the previous best in the series of 40 between Masakadza and Gripper at the SSC and by lunch took the total to 91 without loss. With the spinners operating for most of the time Sri Lanka sent down 104 overs today.

SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS 418
(M. Atapattu 50, M. Jayawardene 76, T. Samaraweera 76, 
U. Chandana 92, D. Marillier four for 101)

ZIMBABWE - 1ST INNINGS
(overnight 18-0)
S. Carlisle lbw b Muralitharan			64
T. Gripper st Sangakkara b Jayasuriya		83
C. Wishart lbw b Jayasuriya			 1
G. Rennie c Sangakkara b Jayasuriya		 7
A. Flower c Tillakaratne b Muralitharan		 6
G. Flower not out				19
H. Streak not out				29

Extras (B-11, LB-8, NB-2)			21

TOTAL (5 wkts at close, 123 overs)		230 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-153, 2-155, 3-161, 4-171, 5-171.

To bat: D. Ebrahim, D. Marillier, T. Friend, H. Olonga.

BOWLING: Vaas 19-7-36-0 (1NB), 
	Fernando 11-1-33-0 (1NB), 
	Muralitharan 53-23-66-2, 
	Jayasuriya 23-8-38-3, 
	Chandana 12-4-24-0, 
	Samaraweera 5-1-14-0. 

Umpires: T.H. Wijewardene (Sri Lanka) and 
	 D.R. Shepherd (England), TV
umpire: G. Silva (Sri Lanka), 

Match Referee: C.M. Smith (West Indies).      

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