Dilshan ton lifts Lanka

AHMEDABAD (India) (AFP) Tillakaratne Dilshan smashed his fifth century of the year as Sri Lanka made a spirited reply in the first Test against India here on Tuesday.
Dilshan hit 112, his 10th Test hundred, as Sri Lanka cruised to 275-3 by stumps on the second day in reply to Indias first innings total of 426.
The right-hander put on 74 for the first wicket with Tharanga Paranavitana (35) and 115 for the second with skipper Kumar Sangakkara, who made 31.
Former captain Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera built on the good start by adding 81 for the unbroken fourth wicket before stumps were drawn for the day.
Jayawardene was unbeaten on 36 and Samaraweera was on 45 with Sri Lanka 151 runs behind India with seven wickets in hand.
Dilshan, who passed a late fitness test on a sprained ankle to play the match, revelled in excellent batting conditions at the Motera stadium to hit 12 fluent boundaries.
The 33-year-old opener has scored 961 runs in nine Tests this year at an average of 73.92. His 162 against Bangladesh in January was the best of his five centuries in 2009.
Dilshan said Sri Lanka had put themselves in a good position to force a result over the last three days.
If we can build on what we have at present and take a lead of around 150, India will be under pressure to save the match because the wicket will start to take turn, he said.
I am happy to contribute every time I go in to bat. Opening the batting gives me time to build my innings, but I am not happy the way I got out today.
Sri Lanka, who were comfortably placed at 189-1 soon after tea, lost Dilshan and Sangakkara in successive overs from Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, to slip to 194-3.
The left-arm seamer had Dilshan top-edging an intended pull to Rahul Dravid at gully, before Sangakkara hooked Zaheer to fine-leg, where Sachin Tendulkar took a well-judged catch.
India, who earlier resumed at Mondays score of 385-6, lost their last four wickets for 41 runs and were all out soon after the first drinks break.
Dravid, whose unbeaten 177 on the first day helped India recover from a disastrous 32-4, failed to add to his overnight score when he was bowled by Chanaka Welegedara in the mornings third over.
Zaheer brought up Indias 400 by slashing two consecutive deliveries from Dammika Prasad over the slips to the third man fence.
Prasad responded with a full toss at Zaheers midriff that sent the batsman sprawling to the ground. The bowler immediately apologised to Zaheer, indicating the ball had slipped from his sweaty hand.
Harbhajan Singh made 22 with the help of two boundaries when he was bowled while attempting a reverse sweep off the prolific Muttiah Muralitharan.
Muralitharan, the worlds most successful Test bowler, had last man Ishant Sharma stumped four balls later to finish with three wickets in the innings and take his overall tally to 786.
Welegedara, playing only his second Test, returned with the wickets of Indias first four batsmen Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Tendulkar and Dravid against his name.
SCOREBOARD
INDIA, 1st innings
Gambhir b Welegedara 1
Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16
Dravid b Welegedara 177
Tendulkar b Welegedara 4
Laxman b Prasad 0
Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68
Dhoni c J'wardene b Prasad 110
Singh b Muralitharan 22
Zaheer lbw b Herath 12
A. Mishra not out 7
I. Sharma st P. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 0
EXTRAS: (b2, lb2, nb4, w1) 9
TOTAL: (all out, 104.5 overs) 426
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-27, 3-31, 4-32 , 5-157, 6-381, 7-389, 8-414, 9-426, 10-426
BOWLING
Welegedara 22-4-87-4 (nb1, w1)
Prasad 22-1-106-2 (nb2)
Mathews 12-1-50-0
Muralitharan 25.5-4-97-3 (nb1)
Herath 22-2-79-1
Dilshan 1-0-3-0.
SRI LANKA
Dilshan c Dravid b Zaheer 112
P'navitana c Dhoni b Sharma 35
S'kara c Tendulkar b Zaheer 31
Jayawardene not out 36
Samaraweera not out 45
EXTRAS: (lb5, w2, nb9) 16
TOTAL: (for 3 wkts, 70 overs) 275
To bat: Mathews, PJayawardene, Welegedara, Muralitharan, Prasad, Rangana Herath.
Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-189, 3-194
BOWLING
Zaheer 15-2-45-2 (nb3, w1)
Sharma 14-0-53-1 (nb3, w1)
Harbhajan 20-2-72-0
Mishra 18-0-89-0 (nb3)
Yuvraj 3-0-11-0