Sangakkara fights but India in control

Sri Lanka 393 and 274 for 6 (Sangakkara 133*, Paranavitana 54) trail India 726 for 9 dec by 59 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Kumar Sangakkara stood alone between India and the No. 1 Test ranking, scoring his first hundred in six Tests in India, a fighting effort on a pitch that helped both spinners and fast bowlers. Although India were made to work hard for six wickets on the fourth day, they were still in control of the Brabourne Test. Their position was strengthened after a Sri Lankan middle-order collapse, kicked off by Sreesanth, continued by Zaheer Khan and finished by Pragyan Ojha, resulting in four wickets for 25 runs.

The day began with another umpiring howler against Tillakaratne Dilshan, followed by a stodgy 90-run stand between Tharanga Paranavitana and Sangakkara, before the middle-order wobbled against inspired bowling. By then, though, Sangakkara had overcome an edgy start against Harbhajan Singh, who extracted alarming turn and bounce even with the new ball, and went on to ensure India would have to bowl on the fifth day, and perhaps bat again too.

In the morning, Dilshan looked to play a game that didn't come naturally to him, padding away the big offbreaks from Harbhajan. Arguments will abound if that was the right approach but Dilshan was not allowed to make his own mistakes. In the sixth over, he was given lbw while padding up to a sharp offbreak that was easily missing leg stump.

Although he was lucky with Dilshan's wicket, Harbhajan then gave both the left-hand batsmen a tough time. He bowled smartly, but Sangakkara and Paranavitana batted smartly too. Harbhajan mixed pace, trajectory, line, and angle and beat the batsmen with his variations. But Sangakkara and Paranavitana didn't let him have a prolonged spell at either of them by taking quick singles. Three of Harbhajan's subsequent overs in that spell featured plays and misses, all four had singles.

Initially Paranavitana was more at ease than Sangakkara, who looked for the getaway sweep shot against Harbhajan and nearly got out twice. Even at 98kph, Harbhajan got sharp turn and, although he didn't bowl the doosra much, he kept the batsmen guessing with topsinners from round the stumps.

Paranavitana was solid in defence and rarely played away from his body but he still played aggressive shots for release every now and then, especially against Pragyan Ojha, whom he lofted for three on-side boundaries. After lunch Paranavitana reached a well-deserved half-century, his second in the match, but was soon done in by a superb outswinger from Sreesanth. The bowler had to wait his turn on the fourth morning, with MS Dhoni choosing to begin with spin from one end, but made his presence felt with sharp swing.

By then Sangakkara had settled in and Sri Lanka's challenge was to bat through scoreless periods without letting it affect them. Sangakkara managed that, defending stoutly, using his feet against the spinners, spending 17 balls on 46, and then bringing up his fifty off 145 balls.

The other two middle-order mainstays, though, couldn't match Sangakkara. Zaheer followed Sreesanth's impressive spell with his best of the series. A 22-ball run-less period followed a ball that moved slightly away from Mahela Jayawardene and took the edge. Four overs later, from round the stumps, Zaheer tucked up Thilan Samaraweera, who edged low to first slip where VVS Laxman took a sharp catch. Just before tea, Ojha spun one sharply across Angelo Mathews, giving Dhoni his 100th catch, and not a straightforward one at that.

Sri Lanka went into the break 189 runs behind. They returned having learnt the lesson, and made a conscious effort to not get bogged down. Sangakkara started stepping out to Ojha and cleared the aggressive field placements with ease. Prasanna Jayawardene pulled and drove Zaheer for fours, slog-swept Virender Sehwag for a six, and in no time the deficit started approaching double figures. Ojha ended that partnership when Prasanna played down the wrong line and was caught lbw.

The two had added 64 runs in 14.4 overs and Sangakkara had moved to 81 off 198 deliveries. Two balls later Nuwan Kulasekara survived a plumb lbw, and that was the closest India came to getting a wicket for the rest of the day. Sangakkara farmed the strike initially but soon realised Kulasekara was not having much trouble negating the spinners. Keeping with the trend on the first three days, the pitch seemed to have eased out in the final session.

Sangakkara spent 24 balls in the 90s, refusing singles and picking boundaries when the fields came up for the last two balls of the overs. By the time he reached his century, India had taken the new ball, and he unleashed a flurry of attractive drives. By stumps the two had added an unbeaten 66 in 17.3 overs, and Sangakkara had scored 83 runs in 107 balls since tea. That despite refusing many a single.