Close - Sri Lanka 610 for 6 dec, India 28 for 0 (SS Das 22*, S Ramesh 4*) For a second successive day, the Sri Lankan batsmen ground India into the SSC dust and left them needing to make their highest total of the series to avoid an innings defeat. Hashan Tillekeratne (136*) and Thilan Samaraweera (103*) each scored hundreds that were memorable not only for the quality of batsmanship but also for the occasion: it was Tillekeratne's comeback series and Samaraweera's debut Test. The fact that Mahela Jayawardene too had passed the century mark in the morning was almost forgotten.

Dav Whatmore had said earlier in the series that Sri Lanka must learn to be more like Australia. Theirs was nothing if not an Australian display of batting. Not only did four batsmen score centuries, but they made their runs fast enough to leave Muttiah Muralitharan more than two days to do his stuff. They had started the day on 323 for 5 with Jayawardene on 95. He brought up his seventh Test century with a lofted sweep over midwicket off Harbhajan Singh, and with Tillekeratne being played into form by Venkatesh Prasad, they added 50 runs in the first hour alone.

Tillekeratne had even assumed the unfamiliar role of dominating partner when Jayawardene departed for 139, with the lead a more-than-handy 192. Sairaj Bahutule's legbreak hit him low on the forward stride but the ball appeared to have been shaping well away past off stump.

With Samaraweera due in next - a debutant who was included more for his offspin than to reinforce the batting - Sourav Ganguly could have been forgiven for eyeing the comforts of the dressing-room. Instead his men were made to chase shadows for 50 more painful overs.

Tillekeratne raced to his seventh Test hundred - his first for more than four years - with a series of powerful cut shots and slog-sweeps off the spinners, while Samaraweera gathered runs with glances and nudges towards fine leg. They forced Ganguly to resort to the friendly spin bowling of Sadagoppan Ramesh and Hemang Badani, both of whom ensured that no wickets fell before tea. He threw the dice for the last time when he opted for the second new ball knowing full well that Zaheer Khan had struggled all through the match and was showing signs of physical discomfort. Sure enough, the tactic misfired and Zaheer was struck twice through cover and thumped viciously to square leg by Samaraweera. The flurry of runs took him within striking distance of his century and was enough to postpone Jayasuriya's declaration.

Batting with a runner because of cramp, Samaraweera slowed down in the nineties but became the third Sri Lankan to score a debut hundred (after Brendon Kuruppu and Romesh Kaluwitharana) when he eased Venkatesh Prasad to the third-man fence.

His innings had in many ways shown the difference between the teams in the Test - where India failed to cash in on the many chances that had come their way, Samaraweera had converted a 2-0-12-0 bowling performance into a debut that he will never forget.

Jayasuriya declared with the score on 610 and India batted comfortably through the 13 overs that were sent down before stumps.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden.com in India

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