Indian bowlers finally struck some form but a slow and steady Sri Lanka still had the upperhand, reaching 293 for four on the opening day of the series-deciding third cricket Test at the P Sara Oval here on Tuesday.
Needing to win the match to square the series, India put up a comparatively better show after being asked to bowl for the third successive time in the series.
Spinner Pragyan Ojha took two of the four wickets to fall, dismissing the well-set Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara (75) and his deputy Mahela Jayawardene (56).
Sangakkara could not make full use of a dropped chance when he was on 23 and missed out on his third successive century. But his innings helped Sri Lanka recover from an early jolt after he put on an 87-run stand with Tillakaratne Dilshan (41).
Thilan Samaraweera (65) and Angelo Mathews (26) were unseparated in a 52-run partnership for the fifth wicket, guiding the hosts to early stumps due to bad light.
The match also saw Sachin Tendulkar become the most capped player in the game as he surpassed former Australian captain Steve Waugh’s record of 168 Tests.
Unlike the first two matches, that saw bat dominating the ball, the track here had something to offer both bowlers and batsmen.
India, after suffering another injury blow in the form of spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh, began well by removing both the openers in the first session and added one wicket each to their tally in the following sessions.
The pace duo of Ishant Sharma and Abhimanyu Mithun did extremely well in the seaming conditions and stifled the Lankans early on.
The Lankans managed to avoid a collapse by playing cautiously but could not resist the temptation of taking the aerial route once the spinners came on.
And that led to the dismissal of a steady Sangakkara who holed out to Virender Sehwag at long-on to gift his wicket to Pragyan Ojha in the post-lunch session.