Dinesh Chandimal smashed an unbeaten 162 off 169 balls to lead a brilliant revival by Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test against India at Galle on Friday.
The hosts, who trailed India by 192 runs in the first innings, were reduced to 95-5 in their second knock before Chandimal launched an audacious counter-attack to steer his team away from imminent disaster.
Sri Lanka went on to make 367, setting India a tricky target of 176 runs to take the lead in the three-match series.
India ended the day at a shaky 23 for one after Lokesh Rahul was trapped leg-before by Rangana Herath for five. First-innings century-maker Shikhar Dhawan was unbeaten on 13 and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma was on five.
The 25-year-old Chandimal hit four sixes — one of them a spectacular reverse sweep off Harbhajan Singh over the mid-wicket boundary – and 19 boundaries in his fourth Test century.
Chandimal put on 125 for the sixth wicket with Lahiru Thirimanne (44) and 82 for the seventh with Jehan Mubarak (49) to frustrate India’s bid to force an early win.
Chandimal and Thirimanne, who joined hands before lunch with their team still 98 runs away from wiping the deficit, batted through a major part of the post-lunch session.
As the pair settled down, the Indians were left to rue the refusal by their powerful cricket board to use the Decision Review System (DRS) for their bilateral matches.
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Both batsmen were fortunate to get into double figures after surviving three appeals for catches close to the wicket — two against Chandimal and one against Thirimanne — in a 10-minute period before lunch.
Replays showed all three catches were clean, but the absence of DRS meant India could not ask for reviews from the television umpire.
Chandimal said aggressive batting had been necessary after five wickets had fallen and praised Thirimanne and Mubarak for their support at the other end.
Ajinkya Rahane set a new world record for most catches by a fielder other than a wicket-keeper when he claimed eight catches in the Test – three in the first innings and five in the second.
Ashwin finished with 10 wickets in the match, having taken six in the first innings and four in the second.
Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara scored 40 in his penultimate Test and captain Angelo Mathews made 39, the pair adding 87 for the fourth wicket after Sri Lanka lost nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad off the first ball of the match to make it 5-3.
Sangakkara received a standing ovation from some 1,500 home fans as he walked back after playing his final innings at the Galle International Stadium.