EVERYONE who was at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) yesterday to see Mahela Jayawardene take a superb century off the SA attack on the first day of the second test should be thankful that he did.

Moments after Jayawardene swept Dean Elgar to go to his 34th hundred two balls before tea, from beyond the fine leg boundary the crackle and flash of fireworks rent the sticky air. With that, all present were jolted out of the daydream of a match that had been mired in one-sidedness since lunch. Jayawardene was still there at stumps, having batted for six hours and faced 225 balls for his undefeated 140. Sri Lanka will resume on 305/5 this morning.

Jayawardene's ton was his 11th in 26 tests at SSC, his home ground. He averages 81.08 here compared to a "mere" 50.41 overall.

At only 1.73m tall, Jayawardene does not have much with which to swagger, but Sri Lanka needed calm experience at the crease yesterday.

"From the first ball he faced he was looking for runs - I didn't see that in Galle," Sri Lankan opener Kaushal Silva said.

With Jayawardene in a stand that grew to 131 and created the stability he needed to keep his focus sharp was Angelo Mathews, who won the toss and thereby earned Sri Lanka the right to dictate terms.

True to form, conditions in the morning begrudged the bowlers a modicum of assistance. SA took advantage by claiming three wickets, two of them with consecutive deliveries by Dale Steyn. They also dropped two catches.

But with lunch, when Sri Lanka were 115/3, went all pretence of a contest. By tea, they had added 97 without losing a wicket.

The visitors took their next wicket in the 11th over after tea, when Mathews cut at JP Duminy and was caught behind for 63.

Four balls before lunch, Duminy had removed the nuggety Silva for 44 by way of a sharp catch at slip by AB de Villiers.

Steyn and Morne Morkel were as rasping and miserly as the conditions allowed.

The disappointment was Imran Tahir, who did not threaten until a more penetrative last spell.