Sangakkara’s century frustrates India

Cricket: MUMBAI - Sri Lanka’s captain Kumar Sangakkara scored an unbeaten century to delay India’s victory bid in the third and final Test here on Saturday.

The tourists, trailing by 333 on the first innings, survived a middle-order collapse in the post-lunch session to move to 274-6 in their second knock by stumps on the fourth day.

Left-handed Sangakkara returned undefeated on 133, his highest score in the series, with Sri Lanka still needing 59 more to avoid a second successive innings defeat with four wickets in hand.

India, who won the Kanpur Test by an innings and 144 runs, will leapfrog leaders South Africa and number two Sri Lanka to become the top-ranked Test side if they win the series 2-0.

Sri Lanka lost four wickets for 25 runs in the post-lunch session to slip to 144-5, before Sangakkara led a revival to take the match into the fifth day.

The skipper put on 64 for the sixth wicket with wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene (32) and 66 for the unbroken seventh with Nuwan Kulasekara, who was unbeaten on nine.

Sri Lanka, starting the day at 11-0, lost key batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan (16) to an umpire’s mistake for the second time in the match when he was given out leg-before to Harbhajan Singh before lunch.

Australian umpire Daryl Harper raised his finger as Dilshan padded up to a ball that spun sharply from the middle-stump and hit the batsman’s front leg.

Television replays showed the ball missing leg-stump by at least six inches.

In the first innings, Dilshan’s century knock was cut short by English umpire Nigel Llong, who ruled the batsman caught at forward short-leg even though the ball bounced off the pad.

The umpires’ referral system, which allows a batting or bowling team to appeal for a review of an on-field decision, is not being used in the series.

Tharanga Paranavitana and Sangakkara put on 90 for the second wicket but India hit back with quick wickets after lunch.

Seamer Shanthakumaran Sreesanth broke the stand by trapping Paranavitana leg-before for 54 — an easy decision for Llong to make as the batsman played back and was hit in line of the middle stump.

Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan had Mahela Jayawardene (12) edging a rising delivery to wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Two overs later, Zaheer forced Thilan Samaraweera to edge a low catch to Venkatsai Laxman at second slip before the batsman had scored. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha struck with the last delivery before tea when Angelo Mathews hung his bat out and edged an easy catch to the wicket-keeper. Prasanna Jayawardene became Ojha’s second victim midway through the final session when he was leg-before to a ball that did not spin away from the bat.

But Kulasekara walked in to hold his ground until stumps as the Indian fielding wilted under the hot sun.

SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS 393

INDIA 1ST INNINGS 726-9 decl 

SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS
(overnight 11-0)

T. PARANAVITANA lbw b Sreesanth		 54
T. DILSHAN lbw b Harbhajan		 16
K. SANGAKKARA not out			133
M. JAYAWARDENE Dhoni b Zaheer		 12
T. SAMARAWEERA c Laxman b Zaheer	  0
A. MATHEWS c Dhoni b Ojha		  5
P. JAYAWARDENE lbw b Ojha		 32
N. KULASEKARA not out			  9

EXTRAS (b8, lb1, nb3, w1)		 13
TOTAL (for six wkts, 93 overs)		274

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Dilshan), 2-119 (Paranavitana), 3-135 (M. Jayawardene), 
		 4-137 (Samaraweera), 5-144 (Mathews), 6-208 (P. Jayawardene).

Bowling: Harbhajan 31-5-70-1, 
	 Ojha 23-4-84-2, 
	 Zaheer 17-4-51-2 (nb1), 
	 Sreesanth 13-4-36-1 (nb2, w1), 
	 Sehwag 9-2-24-0.