A crumbling pitch and some resurgent Indian bowling have set up a gripping deciding Test with the series lead threatening to slip out of the hosts' grasp.
India had snuck ahead at the end of the third day, but were dominant by lunch on the fourth as Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra ran through the Sri Lankan batting. Thilan Samaraweera, the centurion from the first innings, held firm and is key to Sri Lanka's fortunes as they try to build a lead that is competitive enough to give their spinners a chance.Indications were that the slow bowlers would play a prominent role on the day, after the dismissals of the Sri Lankan openers by Virender Sehwag on the third evening. Ojha looked the most lethal, getting the ball to drift from a round-the-wicket angle, varying his pace and extracting enough turn and bounce. He created a chance as early as his first over when he had Kumar Sangakkara edging through a vacant slip region and grabbed a wicket in his third when the nightwatchman Suraj Randiv, after being dropped by MS Dhoni, was trapped in front when he defended outside the line.
Ojha was more effective when he pushed the ball through quicker, especially when the experienced pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Sangakkara appearing to pick the lengths early. Sri Lanka's intent to progress towards a safe score quickly was evident in their attacking approach, as both batsmen stepped out to drive Ojha and tried to ensure a steady flow by working the ball around. Jayawardene cut him for a boundary while Sangakkara tried to unsettle him by sweeping. But Ojha accounted for both: surrounded by catchers, Jayawardene was beaten by the turn to be caught at slip and Sangakkara, sensing a boundary when facing a long-hop, pulled one straight to square leg where Suresh Raina managed to hold on to a tumbling catch.
With a newish ball, India began the day with pace at the other end and Ishant Sharma, despite a few no-balls, came at the batsmen with a series of short-pitched deliveries. He was impressive when targeting Sangakkara from round the wicket but had to eventually cede floor to spin when Dhoni opted to introduce Mishra. He was a touch fortunate to get Angelo Mathews, who smote a low full toss straight to midwicket after having smashed Ojha over his head, and snared Prasanna Jayawardene next ball with a quicker legspinner.
Then began the fightback. Samaraweera, like in the first innings, showed few signs of discomfort against the turning ball and helped take the lead past three-figures with a couple of powerful drives and even employed the slog-sweep. Lasith Malinga chanced his arm more often and supported Samaraweera in a 38-run stand with some meaty hits before Sehwag caught him plumb when he played back to a length delivery spinning in, removing another obstacle from India's way.
