Sri Lanka vs India: Chandimal's ton gives Sri Lanka hope

Sangakkara walked off Galle for one last time after making 40

Dinesh Chandimal made the most of the reprieves he got by slamming a quickfire ton to give India a target of 176 to win in the first Test. He survived two calls before lunch when Sri Lanka were struggling to even go past the deficit, but made it by striking a 100 at almost run a ball where he sent the bowlers on a hunt.

India in their pursuit of the target lost opener KL Rahul for just 5 runs, but nightwatchman Ishant Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan ensured there were no more hiccups as they ended the day at 23 for 1 in 8 overs. India now need 153 more runs with two days of play left to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The home side were rocked early on in the day when they lost nightwatchman Dhammika Prasad on the first ball in the morning when Varun Aaron bounced him out. Ajinkya Rahane took a neat diving catch at gully. The skipper Angelo Mathews who was suffering from flu yesterday strode out in the middle to join the veteran Sangakkara.

The crowd got stunned for a moment, but quickly redeemed themselves to salute their legend as he walked off Galle for one last time. Dinesh Chandimal walked in only to see his skipper being taken down by the leggie Amit Mishra. Lahiru Thirimanne and Jehan Mubarak gave him support at the other end as they carried Lanka past the Indian total.

Thirimanne first made a patient 44 from 76 deliveries, but was dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin. Mubarak struck some lusty blows before the 35-year-old veteran Harbhajan Singh cleaned him up. It was the off spinner's first wicket of the match.

Chandimal at the other end kept going berserk and reached his 4th Test ton. He even managed to hit a six off a reverse sweep. He remained unbeaten until the end on 162 from just 169 balls that consisted of 19 fours and four sixes.

Ashwin was once again the pick of the bowlers as he picked up four wickets conceding 114 runs. In that process, he picked up his 3rd career 10-wicket haul. Amit Mishra picked 3 wickets for 61 runs.

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane broke the record for taking the most number of catches (8) in a Test match. He took 5 catches in the Lankan second innings and had already taken 3 in the first.

Greg Chappell, Yajurvindra Singh, Hashan Tillakaratne, Stephen Fleming and Matthew Hayden had taken 7 previously.