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| Tillakaratne Dilshan takes control for Sri Lanka [AFP] |
Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a magnificent century on the second day of the first Test against India to leave the game evenly poised after India were earlier dismissed for 426 in their first innings.
Dilshan made 112 off 133 balls in Ahmedabad as Sri Lanka progressed to 275-3 at close with Thilan Samaraweera batting on 45 and former captain Mahela Jayawardene unbeaten on 36.
The visitors trailed by 151 runs at close of play.
Sri Lanka, who are ranked second behind South Africa in the official Test rankings, are aiming to win a Test on Indian soil for the first time.
Last session
India did well in the last session after Dilshan had dominated the 115-run second wicket stand with captain Kumar Sangakkara (30).
Zaheer Khan (2-45) removed both batsmen in successive overs with short pitched deliveries.
Dilshan raised his 10th Test century with an aggressive square cut boundary off paceman Ishant Sharma before he mistimed a pull shot and offered an easy catch.
His century included 12 boundaries - mostly on the offside - on an easy paced wicket at Motera.
Sangakkara also misjudged a pull shot and holed out in the deep to Sachin
Tendulkar as Sri Lanka lost two wickets inside five runs.
Samaraweera and Jayawardene then played watchfully and put on 81 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand.
Strong start
Sri Lanka started off well with Tharanga Paranavitana (35) and Dilshan providing a confident opening stand of 74.
Sri Lanka lost only Paranavitana in the middle session when India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni held a low, one-handed catch off paceman Sharma's delivery which left the left-hander and got a thick outside edge.
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India first innings (385-6 overnight)
G Gambhir b Welegedara 1
V Sehwag lbw b Welegedara 16
R Dravid b Welegedara 177
S Tendulkar b Welegedara 4
V Laxman b Prasad 0
Y Singh c Dilshan b Muralitharan 68
M Dhoni c P Jayawardene b Prasad 110
H Singh b Muralitharan 22
Z Khan lbw b Herath 12
A Mishra not out 7
I Sharma st P Jayawardene b Muralitharan 0
Extras 9
Total (all out, 104.5 overs) 426
Fall of wickets: 1-14 2-27 3-31 4-32 5-157 6-381 7-389 8-414 9-426
Sri Lanka first innings
T Dilshan c Dravid b Zaheer 112
T Paranavitana c Dhoni b Ishant 35
K Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Zaheer 31
M Jayawardene not out 36
T Samaraweera not out 45
Extras 16
Total (three wickets; 70 overs) 275
Fall of wickets: 1-74 2-189 3-194
To bat: A Mathews, P Jayawardene, D Prasad, R Herath, M Muralitharan, C Welegedara
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Dilshan faced little trouble in negotiating spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra as he punished loose deliveries with some attractive boundaries.
Both Indian spinners bowled 38 overs in between them but were still searching for their first wicket.
Earlier, the Sri Lankan bowlers rallied with four wickets in the morning session after India had resumed at 385 for six.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, playing what could be his final Test series on foreign soil, took three wickets in the session.
But it was Chanaka Welegedara who made the early breakthrough, removing Rahul Dravid for his overnight score of 177.
Dravid had withstood Welegedara's damaging first spell on the opening day - when the rookie paceman took three wickets and had the hosts reeling at 32-4 - and led India's innings revival in important partnerships with Yuvraj Singh (68) and Dhoni (110).
But Welegedara knocked back the stumps in the second over when Dravid left a big gap between bat and pad as he attempted to drive down the ground.
Dravid's innings lifted him to fifth in the all-time Test scorers after Sachin Tendulkar (12,777), Brian Lara (11,953), Ricky Ponting (11,345) and Allan Border (11,174).
He faced 261 deliveries and hit 26 boundaries and a six in a display of brilliant temperament and stroke making.
Muralitharan ran through the Indian tailenders finishing with 3-97 and Welegedera finished with 4-87.
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