Tillakaratne Dilshan struck his sixth Test century of 2009 as Sri Lanka ended day one of the final Test on 366-8 against India.
Opener strikes century before India hit back
Third Test MatchMumbaiSri Lanka 366-8 (T M Dilshan 109, A D Mathews 86 no, N T Paranavitana 53, Harbhajan Singh 4-107) v India
Tillakaratne Dilshan struck his sixth Test century of 2009 as Sri Lanka ended day one of the final Test on 366-8 against India in Mumbai.
The explosive opener smashed 109 at the top of the order before his entertaining stay was cruelly ended by a poor bat-pad decision from English umpire Nigel Llong.
With the ball spinning sharply into the pads, Harbhajan Singh appealed in hope rather than expectation when Murali Vijay pouched at short-leg, however to Dilshan's disbelief, the finger was raised.
Sri Lanka did overcome that set-back in the final session, Angelo Mathews finishing the day unbeaten on a career-best 86 after a quickfire 59 partnership with Prasanna Jayawardene (43).
More than 50 overs of spin were bowled on day one, Harbhajan (4-104) and Pragyan Ojha (2-97) making the most of another slow bowler's paradise in the sub-continent.
Flying start
The tourists, still searching for their first ever Test match win in India, headed into day one of the third and final Test trailing the series 1-0 after a record defeat in Kanpur.
Captain Kumar Sangakkara had no hesitation in batting first upon winning the toss, and his decision was quickly justified despite some early assistance off the pitch for India pacemen Zaheer Khan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
Sri Lanka openers Tharanga Paranavitana (53) and Dilshan negotiated the movement expertly and gave their team a flying start with a fluent 93-run partnership.
Left-hander Paranavitana, who had been outscoring Dilshan, was guilty of one aggressive shot too many though, and Harbhajan claimed the first wicket when Rahul Dravid caught comfortably at slip.
Sangakkara negotiated the remainder of the morning session with Dilshan, however he did not last much longer when play resumed.
With spin now operating from both ends, left-armer Ojha claimed the prize scalp of Sangakkara for just 18 when he tickled a turning delivery to Mahendra Singh Dhoni down the leg-side.
Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera then departed in quick succession as Sri Lanka crashed from 128-1 to 188-4.
Jayawardene was caught on the fine-leg fence after top-edging a short ball from Sreesanth, and Harbhajan struck three balls later when Samaraweera lunged forward and was caught well by Vijay at short-leg.
Stubborn
But Sri Lanka launched a counter-attack of their own from there on, Dilshan and Mathews combining with an aggressive 74-run stand before and after tea.
Dilshan smashed a straight six off Ojha to reach tea on 99, and he completed his 11th Test century immediately after the resumption.
Mathews motored along at near a run-a-ball, however just as their partnership gathered pace, an ill-judged bat-pad decision from umpire Llong ended Dilshan's innings on 109.
With Sri Lanka on 262-5, India attempted to turn the screw, only for a stubborn partnership between Mathews and Prasanna to thwart them.
Mathews reached his second Test match 50 midway through the final session, however a rush of blood saw Prasanna perish when he picked out Harbhajan at mid-on to become Ojha's second victim.
And India claimed two further strikes on the stroke of stumps, Zaheer making the most of the second new ball to dismiss Nuwan Kulasekara (12), and Harbhajan removing Rangara Herath (1) in the penultimate over.
The 366 runs scored by Sri Lanka is the most a touring team has ever made on the opening day of a Test match in India.
