His fourth-innings vanguard, which by the end of day four has brought him 91 not out off 158, and pushed New Zealand into a spot where they still have an outside chance of victory, has been full of bravado.

Sri Lanka's offspinners attacked him outside off stump, figuring that as he likes to play shots out there, there will eventually be an edge that comes off his bat. The edge never materialised but plenty of runs did - 40 of his runs coming in the arc between backward point and cover, Ravindra's shot-making frequent and consistent even when the pitch was spitting towards the end of the day.

"He's a phenomenal player. I think he's world class. With his batting out there today, you saw him sticking to a solid plan for long periods, and trusting his skills. He's got an amazing future in front of him. I'm grateful he's on our team. He's a headache to bowl to in first-class cricket."

When Sri Lanka switched to bowling straighter at him, Ravindra was no less proficient through the legside. He was ruthless when the bowlers erred even slightly on length, preferring the pull to the sweep as his main run-scoring option on the legside.

In fact, four of his nine fours, and his one six all came through midwicket, with the six coming off a full toss.

"I mostly tried to bowl into the rough to him and turn it into him. Sometimes he was very good at latching on to the short balls.

"There was some little chances that came off him. But he kept his patience and batted nicely. He hit the loose balls away and kept the good ones out. He played like someone who understood his game, and was sticking to a game plan. Sometimes we tried to take his wicket and bowled aggressively, but he turned those into scoring opportunities."

Sri Lanka now need two more wickets to win, while New Zealand need 68 for victory. Ravindra has to score those runs in the company of No. 10 Patel, and No. 11 Will O'Rourke. If he gets through that challenge, it may be the finest moment of his career to date - in Tests, at least.

"We can't make mistakes against him tomorrow," Jayasuriya said. "We have to take those two wickets."