Tillakaratne Dilshan spanked his 10th Test hundred to provide the necessary impetus for Sri Lanka in reply to India’s 426. Sri Lanka ended Day 2 at an impressive 275 for 3 with former Skipper Mahela Jayawardene (36) and Samaraweera (45) defying the Indian bowling comfortably.

The visitors wrapped up the Indian innings in the first session by taking the last four wickets for 41 runs in just under 15 overs. Rahul Dravid, the hero of Day 1 couldn’t add a single run to his overnight score of 177 as he was comprehensively bowled by an inducker from left armer Chanaka Welegedera. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan then managed to steer India past the 400-run mark. Both these useful lower bats couldn’t last long enough to trouble the Lankans and India had to settle with a first innings total of 426.

The Lankan openers – Dilshan and Paranavitana saw through the testing period before lunch and after the break batted confidently. India had to work very hard to get its first wicket which came through a brilliant diving catch from MS Dhoni. Paranavitana (35) was the man to be dismissed off an outswinger from Ishant Sharma in the 17th over having put 74 on the board with Dilshan. That was the only success for India in the afternoon session as Dilshan and Sangakkara took charge to consolidate Sri Lanka to 155 for 1 at Tea.

The final session saw Dilshan bring up his 10th hundred and India was in serious trouble as the attacking right hander was looking to plunder the bowling further. However, Zaheer Khan got rid of Dilshan at the right time and also removed Kumar Sangakkara in quick succession. Dilshan (112 from 133 balls with 12 fours) got out miscuing a pull while Sangakkara (31) hooked one to fine leg. Sri Lanka were now under pressure at 194 for 3. The tails were up for the Indian bowlers but the experienced duo of Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera eased through the tricky situation to take SL to safety at stumps. Sri Lanka have finished the day at 275 for 3 in 70 overs with a healthy run rate of 3.92.

Tags: India Vs Sri Lanka, Indian Cricket, Sri Lanka Cricket, Tillakaratne Dilshan