The right-hander was well supported by Dinesh Chandimal (42) as the duo teamed up to string together a stand of 117. However, Australia breathed a sigh of relief when Marsh eventually dismissed Chandimal with an inswinger. At the break, Sri Lanka led by 167 runs with five wickets still in hand.
As the sound of Mendis's willow on the leather filled the air, Smith's worried demeanour on the field suggested that the match was quickly slipping away from Australia's grasp. The shrill appeals made by the close-in fielders also gave an inkling that the tourists were getting desperate. In an attempt to stem the run-flow, Smith had two fielders positioned at short mid-wicket, but he couldn't stop Mendis from bisecting the gaps with clockwork precision.
The 21-year-old batsman just seemed to be batting on a different pitch as he played across the line and even upper-cut the likes of Starc and Josh Hazlewood. He soon reached his hundred in style, with a six off Lyon in the 43rd over. The visitors were also dealt a blow when the impressive O'Keefe sustained a hamstring injury and had to make his way back to the pavilion.
Incidentally, Mendis's century was reminiscent of Chandimal's unbeaten 169-ball 162 against India in Galle in 2015. On that occasion, the hosts were in arrears by 192 runs and his blistering century powered Sri Lanka to a come-from-behind 63-run win. This time around, Chandimal had to play the supporting role and to his credit, he grafted his way to a well-constructed innings.
Chandimal did offer a caught and bowled chance in the 54th over when he scooped one back to Starc, but the tall pacer couldn't snap up the opportunity on his follow-through. The visitors suddenly lost the plot as they were ragged in the field and with the ball. However, Australia were given a lifeline when Marsh generated reverse swing with the old ball to dislodge the wicket-keeper-batsman in the 59th over.
At the start of the day, Australia certainly were in the ascendancy as Starc joined forces with the metronomic Hazlewood to cause problems for the Sri Lankan batsmen in the first hour. The left-arm pacer from New South Wales made an early incision by dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne for a duck for the second time in the match in the first over of the morning. He tempted the 28-year-old batsman with a couple of deliveries that pitched and straightened a touch on the angle before bending one back into the left-hander to trap him right in front.
Karunaratne wasn't convinced about the decision and went for the review, but Hawk-Eye suggested that the ball would have clipped the leg stump. His pace colleague Hazlewood extracted nifty movement off the pitch and produced a couple of edges, but couldn't make the breakthrough.
O'Keefe, who replaced Hazlewood, then broke Kaushal Silva's (7) resolve by prising him out leg before in the 13th over of the day. In familiar climes for spin bowling, he got one to skid off the surface and Silva's tendency to thrust his front pad led to his dismissal. Curiously, Silva, too, decided to ask for a review, but just like Karunaratne, had to walk back to the pavilion as the ball-tracker reckoned it was clipping leg stump.
It has to be noted that both Sri Lanka and Australia have been poor with their reviews in this Test.
Mendis, who showed some promise during the tour of England, continued to grow in stature as he piled up a flurry of delectable shots. When Starc banged it short, he got into a nice position to essay the cut stroke and as soon as the left-arm pacer overcompensated by bowling it too full, he smoothed drives through the cover region.
He had to encounter a few nervy moments, especially when he tried to sweep the spin duo, but his stroke-filled fifty helped the hosts get in front. Mendis also regathered his thoughts quickly after reaching the milestone to collect crucial runs.The experienced Angelo Mathews (9) ran the opposition ragged by stealing singles and twos as the pair stitched a fine partnership of 40 in testing conditions before Lyon dislodged the Sri Lankan skipper.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 117 (Dhananjaya de Silva 24; Nathan Lyon 3-12, Hazlewood 3-20, Steve O'Keefe 2-32) and 253/5 (Kusal Mendis 157*; Mitchell Starc 2-44) lead Australia 203 (Adam Voges 47, Mitchell Marsh 31; Rangana Herath 4-49, Lakshan Sandakan 4-58) by 167 runs runs.
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