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Sri Lanka lived to see another day in the final test against India, thanks to the efforts of skipper Kumar Sangakkara who batted superbly to score his maiden test century in India and remain 133 not out. Contributions from Paranavitana (54) and Prasanna Jayawardene (32) ensured Sri Lanka finished at 274/6 only 59 behind India's first innings lead of 333. Harbhajan Singh, who looked the pick of the Indian bowlers, had just one wicket to show for his efforts as Zaheer Khan and Pragyan Ojha finished with two wickets apiece.

It was a typical December morning in Mumbai as the sun struggled to shine through the haze and a gentle cool breeze wafted across the ground. It was heartening to see families had brought the ir children on a Saturday morning to watch a game of test cricket and the crowd looked to be in fine form as chants of "Indyaaaa! India!" echoed round the Brabourne stadium.

The plan for Sri Lanka would have been to bat out the first session without losing wickets and chip away at India's lead. To try and bat out two days, all the while defending, that too on a turning track truly looked a daunting task. For India there was a simpler plan. Get wickets as quickly as possible so the test does not extend into a 5th day.

Sri Lanka resumed on their overnight score of 11/0 with the openers Tillakaratne Dilshan on 3 and Paranavitana on 8. Zaheer Khan was given the ball first up and Harbhajan Singh was introduced at the other end. The latter bowled beautifully using the bounce in the wicket, averaging 90 Kmph while getting the ball to turn away from the left handed Paranavitana. In the 9th over Dilshan offered his pad one time too many to a Harbhajan delivery which turned in from outside the off stump to hit him around middle and leg, and Umpire Harper raised the finger after a ferverent Harbhajan appeal which was well supported by the close in fielders. Replays showed the ball would have gone on to miss leg stump as it continued on its trajectory and looked to be a bit high as well. For the second time in this game Dilshan (16) was hard done by a decision and would really be rueing the absence of the Umpire Decision Review System. Dilshan's dismissal brought in Skipper Kumar Sangakkara who hadn't had much success with the bat in the 1st innings here, as with the rest of the series. He was still searching for his first 50 on Indian soil, a fact that would come as a shock to most of his fans.

S Sreesanth was brought into the attack in the 14th over replacing Zaheer, whose spell of 5 overs gave away just 11 runs. Sreesanth bowled a middle to off stump line with a fullish length using the short pitched delivery sparingly and to good effect. His spell of 5 overs with 2 maidens went for just 4 runs, but without success. Pragyan Ojha was brought on to give Harbhajan a break in the 19th over but was guilty of bowling a middle to leg stump line which allowed the Sri Lankan batsmen to score freely on the on-side. His 5 over spell costing 25 runs prompted Dhoni to bring back Harbhajan. Sri Lanka by now had survived the morning session with both batsmen showing good application, and scoring runs when possible, while treating Harbhajan with a lot of respect. The Lankans went into lunch on 84/1 after 31 overs feeling a lot better about things than when they came out to bat.

Play resumed post lunch with the ball given to Virender Sehwag who had bowled just the one over prior to the break. Paranavitana got to his second half century of the game with a paddle shot for 4 off Harbhajan. It was a responsible knock against some very good spin bowling under difficult circumstances. At the other end, Sangakkara had moved on to 39 which would have been a huge relief, coming into this game with a total of 86 runs from the series. Sehwag had excellent figures of 6-2-11-0 from his spell.

Sreesanth was finally brought back by Dhoni in the 15th over after lunch and struck with his third delivery, trapping Paranavitana on the front foot with a ball that shaped in late, leaving us all wondering why he was not given a bowl right after the break. Two deliveries later Sangakkara survived a loud appeal from a similar delivery but the ball looked to be missing leg. Sri Lanka 119/2 in the 46th over.

Mahela Jayawardene joined his skipper in the middle, coming off a brilliant 275 in the first test in Ahmedabad but just 29 runs in the first innings here. Dhoni made a double change in the 51st over with Ojha and Zaheer coming on for Harbhajan and Sreesanth. Someone must have had a word with Ojha in the break, fo he bowled a better line forcing the batsmen to play forward and keep the bat pad fielder on his toes.

Zaheer persisted with his off stump line getting the ball to move away from the right and left-handers consistently. He was rewarded for his effort when he had Jayawardene pushing at a delivery, something he tends to do when he is new at the crease. It was Dhoni's 99th career catch as he latched on to the ball and Jayawardene had to depart for just 12 off 24 balls. Sri Lanka were now 135/3 in the 54th over and with Ojha bowling a better line at the other end India were now sniffing blood.

Sangakkara had moved on to 46 from 129 balls when he was joined by the prolific Thilan Samaraweera, who too had a poor outing in the 1st innings. His misery was compounded, when, still on naught, Zaheer had him fending at a short lifting delivery. He edged it into the safe hands of VVS Laxman waiting at second slip, who took a fine low catch. Sri Lanka were suddenly 4 down for 137 after 58 overs with Sangakkara providing lone resistance from one end, finally reaching his maiden 50 of the series and his first in India, from 145 deliveries. Dhoni rotating his bowlers after 5 over spells had the desired effect, as India made inroads into the Sri Lankan batting. Angelo Mathews, run-out on 99 in the first innings, joined his skipper just before the tea break. He managed to score just 5 runs before he was smartly caught by Dhoni off the bowling of Ojha, to give him his first wicket and bring up Dhoni's 100th catch behind the stumps. Sri Lanka went into tea at 144/5 after 61 overs with a tricky final session ahead that could signal defeat on the 4th day, something they would not have dreamt off going into the lunch break.

The Post tea session saw wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, averaging in his 30's, join his skipper who was still batting on 50. Sreesanth and Ojha resumed proceedings as a mix of seam and spin tied down the Sri Lankan batsmen, with Sreesanth in particular getting the ball to seam around. Sangakkara decided to use his feet against Ojha, who was guilty of dropping it short, hitting him for a six and four off consecutive deliveries in the 65th over. Sangakkara upped his scoring rate to move into the 70's with good support from Jayawardene, sharing in a partnership of 54 runs from 65 balls. Sri Lanka brought up it's 200 in the 73rd over, an indication of how difficult things had been for them before tea.

Harbhajan was brought back into the attack with Sehwag bowling at the other end as Jayawardene looked to score on the leg-side off most deliveries. Ojha was then brought back to replace Sehwag and got the breakthrough in his 18th over deceiving Jayawardene with a ball that pictched and straightened and would have gone on to hit middle stump. Jayawardene was looking good on his way to 32 off 42 balls which included 3 fours and a six. Incoming batsman Nuwan Kulasekara was lucky to survive a loud shout from a similar delivery, two balls later, the Umpire perhaps believing that the ball pitched outside leg. Sri Lanka were 208/6 in the 76th over, still trailing by 125 runs, with Sangakkara batting resolutely on 82.

The new ball was taken in the 84th over and Sangakkara took advantage, flicking Zaheer's second delivery through mid-wicket for four reaching his 21st career test century and his 3rd against India. It was also the most expensive over of the innings so far with 12 runs coming off it. Sri Lanka brought up their 250 in the 86th over as Zaheer was taken for 9 more runs in his next over, bowling either too full or too short outside off stump. The 50 run partnership between these 2 batsmen came up from just 68 balls! Sreesanth's first over with the new ball was a maiden, his next going for 13 runs as Sri Lanka moved on to 258/6 after 87 overs as India looked to be losing its vice-like grip on things.

The boundaries continued to fly fast and thick from Sangakkara's bat as the visitors wrapped up the 4th day's play on 274/6, trailing by just 59 runs, with their skipper unbeaten on 133.

Sri Lanka would look to negate this lead tomorrow and bat on as long as possible. If they manage to score some runs and put India in to bat, they would have salvaged some pride, wondering what might have been had Dilshan been allowed to bat on in both innings. India on the other hand would like to shut out the visitors first thing in the morning and not suffer the ignominy of squandering a 300 plus lead, when they had Sri Lanka on the mat going into the tea break.

MINI SCORECARD:

Sri Lanka 1st innings 393 all out (89 overs, 4.15rpo)
Dilshan 109 (160)            Harbhajan Singh 4-112
Mathews 99 (131)            Ojha 3-101

India 1st innings 726/9 declared (163.3 overs, 4.44rpo)
Sehwag 293 (254)           Herath 3-240
Dhoni 100* (154)             Murali 4-195

Sri Lanka 2nd innings 274/6 (93 overs, 2.95rpo)
Sangakarra 133* (258)     Z Khan 2-51
Paranavitana 54 (144)     Ojha 2-84

File Photograph Copyright: Gane Kumaraswamy