Sri Lankan batsman Mahela Jayawardene has moved to fourth position in the all-time list of highest individual Test match scores with an outstanding 374 on day three of the opening match against South Africa.
The Sri Lankan captain had a massive chance to break the all-time highest Test score made by Brian Lara (400), but Nel dismissed him before Jayawardene declared with his team racking up a score of 756-5.
South Africa was 43-0 at stumps, trailing by 544 runs.
Jayawardene received a standing ovation from his home crowd at the end of his marathon innings which was scored off 572 balls and included 43 fours and a six.
The individual milestone to Jayawardene followed his and Kumar Sangakkara's world record third-wicket partnership of 624, with the latter making 287.
The pair rescued the home side from a precarious 14-2 in Colombo, taking the score along to 638 in what will be one of the most celebrated tandem efforts in the history of the game after the Proteas made just 169 in their first innings.
Earlier, Jayawardene and Sangakkara surpassed the previous best partnership of 576 for the second-wicket set by fellow-Sri Lankans Sanath Jayasuriya and Roshan Mahanama against India at the Premadasa stadium in 1997, when South Africa conceded four byes off left-arm spinner Nicky Boje.
