India need 153 runs to win with nine wickets in hand as Shikhar Dhawan (13*) took the team to stumps with Ishant Sharma (5*) on Day 3 against Sri Lanka in the first match of the three-Test series in Galle. Dinesh Chandimal helped set India a 176-run target with an unbeaten 162 off 169 balls after Sri Lanka had resumed their second innings on five for two on the third morning. The Indian bowlers dominated the first session as they created chances for breakthroughs and were complemented by excellent fielding, but the batsmen survived close calls and carried on. Joining forces at 95 for five with Lahiru Thirimanne (44), Chandimal stitched a 125-run stand to ensure that India bat again. Capitalising on the chance afforded to him, Chandimal batted determinedly to build useful partnerships with the lower-order to take SL to 367 before they were bowled out. Ravichandran Ashwin finished with ten wickets in the match as he wrapped up the SL innings late in the third session while Ajinkya Rahane finished with world record, eight catches in a Test. Chasing the target, India lost KL Rahul with 12 runs on the board. The opener was trapped lbw by Rangana Herath for five. Ishant then joined Dhawan to see India through to the end of day’s play.

Earlier, after spinners got India off to a good start in the second innings with two early wickets the previous day, Virat Kohli handed the ball to his pacers to start the day’s proceedings. Varun Aaron repaid the captain’s faith to claim a wicket without any addition to the score-line. Unable to negotiate the bouncer, the night-watchman, Dhammika Prasad departed handing a catch to Rahane at gully.

At five for three, Angelo Mathews and Kumar Sangakkara toiled to keep the home team in the fray. The SL skipper took on Ishant, sending him racing to the fence on either side of the wicket while Sangakkara’s disciplined display helped hold the innings together for a while. Gaining momentum with singles and twos the pair looked to rebuild the innings and had put together 87 runs for the fourth wicket until Ashwin ended the stand. The off-spinner, who had been extracting bounce and turn from the wicket forced an edge from Sangakkara’s bat and Rahane in slips pulled off an excellent catch to end the senior batsman’s last knock at Galle for 40. In the following over, Mishra accounted for Mathews in his first over of the day. Caught by Rahul at silly point as the ball bounced off the bat, the SL captain, who had received a life early in the session departed for 39. With the team on the back foot, Thirimanne joined Chandimal in the middle and the pair scrapped together 13 runs to see the team through the remaining four overs of the first session. Chandimal, survived on five after Ashwin had forced an edge and the ball had lobbed towards short-leg. Chandimal swept his way to half-century at a brisk pace in the second session as he took on the Indian bowlers with Thirimanne holding the fort at the other end. The middle-order batsman found the boundary more often than not forcing the field to spread out. Going down on one knee the batsmen not only added fours but cleared the fence as they closed in on the deficit, overhauling which had seemed an uphill task earlier in the day.

Chandimal took on the spinners and pacers alike en route to his half-century and was ably supported by Thirimanne in keeping the innings afloat. The pair’s partnership helped avert an innings defeat as the Indian team toiled to end the stand. It was late in the second session that a brilliant low catch by Rahane in the slips after Thirimanne had poked at an Ashwin delivery broke the flourishing partnership. Chandimal then found another able partner in Jehan Mubarak to build on the lead and seize the advantage from the visitors. Anchoring the innings Chandimal reached his century with a single through covers off Harbhajan Singh in the first over of the final session. The seventh wicket partnership continued to add useful runs to the tally in an effort to set up the game. It was Harbhajan, who gave India a much needed breakthrough ten overs into the final session of the day with the wicket of Mubarak. The batsman who was inching towards his fifty edged the off-spinner to the slips and Rahane took the catch close to his body and gave the bowler his first wicket of the match. The fielder, who had played an vital role in the dismissals by pulling off some brilliant catches throughout the game then took another catch 17 runs later to send back Rangana Herath off Mishra and become the first to take eight catches in a Test. Chandimal continued to glean runs of the Indian attack with the lower-order assisting him in the effort. Tharindu Kaushal helped add 41 runs before Ishant struck with the new ball to end the stand. And in the next over Ashwin castled Nuwan Pradeep to bowl SL out and finish with four wickets in the innings. End of Day 1: SL 1st inn 183 all out in 49.4 overs (A Mathew 64, D Chandimal 59, R Ashwin 6/46, A Mishra 2/20); Ind 1st inn 128/2 in 34 overs (S Dhawan 53*, V Kohli 45*, A Mathews 1/12, D Prasad 1/22) End of Day 2: Ind 1st inn 375 all out in 117.4 overs (S Dhawan 134, V Kohli 103, T Kaushal 5/134, N Pradeep 3/98); SL 2nd inn 5/2 in 4 overs (D Prasad 3*, K Sangakkara 1*, R Ashwin 0/1, A Mishra 1/1)

End of Day 3: SL 2nd inn 367 all out in 82.2 overs (D Chandimal 162, J Mubarak 49, L Thirimanne 44, R Ashwin 4/114, A Mishra 3/61); Ind 2nd inn 23/1 in 8 overs (S Dhawan 13, R Herath 1/13)