6.20 pm, close Sri Lanka 52 for 1 (M Atapattu 30*, K Sangakkara 13*)
Sri Lanka ended an action-packed second day at Kandy 94 runs ahead of India. Marvan Atapattu faced the first 12 deliveries of their second innings and took seven runs off them, with a full-faced straight drive off Zaheer Khan followed by a magnificent cover drive off Harvinder Singh's first ball.

Sanath Jayasuriya went one up on him, gloving Zaheer away to the fine-leg boundary off the first ball he faced. But in playing an expansive drive to a length ball, he paid the price for trying for too much too soon, and was bowled off the inside edge for 6. It was his second single-figure score of the match.

With his tail up and a hard ball in his hand, Zaheer twice came close to dismissing the new batsman Sangakkara in the same over. First, he was caught at gully off what appeared to be the glove, but was really the arm-guard, then a top-edged hook off the next ball was caught by none of the three men who converged upon it.

Zaheer remained a threat throughout his seven-over spell, beating the edge at times, and drawing it lucklessly on others. Tired and frustrated, he eventually gave way to Sourav Ganguly, whose arm wasn't quite as golden as yesterday. Eighteen overs into the innings, bad light stopped play.

4.45pm India 232 all out (S Ramesh 47, Harbhajan Singh 44, C Vaas 4 for 65)
Chaminda Vaas crashed the tail-end tea party as India conceded a 42-run lead to Sri Lanka. Having lost their top six for 154, India ultimately reached 232 thanks to some fearless hitting by Harbhajan Singh and Sameer Dighe.

In 44 balls after tea, they added 57 runs through 12 quite unbelievable boundaries. Off four balls in a row, Harbhajan hooked, hooked, glided and drove Dilhara Fernando for 16 runs. Dighe, almost a block of stone before tea, joined in the fun, sweeping Murali, driving Fernando and pulling Vaas with renewed vigour.

Vaas ended the partnership, dismissing Dighe (28) the same way he did Shiv Sunder Das in the morning: ball pitched up, swerving back into the right-hander and hitting below the knee-roll in front of middle stump. Only, there was no inside edge this time. But umpire Wijewardene did strike three overs later, when he declared Zaheer Khan caught at silly-point, going more by the appeal than the evidence.

Losing partners and patience, Harbhajan attempted his most unlikely shot yet - stepping outside leg stump for an improbable hoick over mid-on - and was bowled for a priceless 44. Suddenly, everything came to a halt. Nothing happened for five overs - no runs, no close shaves, only vacuum, till Muttiah Muralitharan pegged back Harvinder Singh's off stump with his straighter ball.

4.00 pm India 206 for 6 (S Dighe 23*, Harbhajan Singh 31*)
Boundaries flowed like Navjot Sidhu's proverbial river after tea as Harbhajan Singh and Sameer Dighe revived India with a rollicking half-century partnership. In less than half an hour, they brought India within striking distance of Sri Lanka's first-innings total.

Harbhajan Singh greeted Fernando with a hook (fine), another hook (square), a delicate dab to third-man and a blistering cover drive to rattle off 16 runs in four balls. Dighe joined in by sweeping Murali for four and cracking Fernando through the off-side. Before anyone knew it, 33 runs had come in three overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya responded by pressing Chaminda Vaas into the attack, but he was pulled emphatically by Dighe to the midwicket fence. For the first time in the match, Murali was bowling with a long-on.

3.10pm India 161 for 6 (S Dighe 10*, Harbhajan Singh 4*)
India lost their top six batsmen by tea, and were left hoping that Sameer Dighe and Harbhajan Singh could do a repeat of their chirpy 72-run stand against Zimbabwe a few months ago.

After Dilhara Fernando had made a double breakthrough, Sanath Jayasuriya attacked ruthlessly through Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan. Vaas bowled inswingers, slower balls, and an entire over of bouncers at Sameer Dighe, but could not add to the wickets tally while Murali bowled a tantalisingly attacking line to an attacking field.

Apart from a cover drive from Hemang Badani and a swipe over midwicket by Dighe, both off Murali, runs became impossible to come by. The pressure told eventually as Badani mistimed a pull off Ruchira Perera and was caught at mid-on for a painful 16.

The session, however, had been won for Sri Lanka when Fernando dismissed Mohammad Kaif and Sadagoppan Ramesh in consecutive overs. Kaif (17) ballooned a bouncer towards point where Marvan Atapattu swooped in to take a diving catch. Ramesh soon followed when he typically failed to move his feet and poked at a delivery angling away from him. The faint tickle carried to Kumar Sangakkara to give Fernando his second wicket.

Ramesh had done well to break out of his shell in the morning, playing the straight drive and the Indian chapati shot square on the leg side with success. His dismissal at 47 gave Sri Lanka the big lift they needed.

Extras, with 26, is the second highest scorer. Vaas and Fernando have bowled eight no-balls each.

2.00pm India 127 for 5 (H Badani 2*, S Ramesh 47*)
Dilhara Fernando broke through in consecutive overs as India slid to 127 for 5, still 147 runs short of the Sri Lankan total. The pre-lunch pair of Mohammad Kaif (17) and Sadagoppan Ramesh (47) were the men out.

Kaif was in minor strife against Muralitharan, tending to plant his front foot and play across his pad. The first time he chose to use his feet, he converted a length delivery into a full toss and pierced the offside for a boundary. But, for the fourth time today, an Indian wicket fell against the run of play when Kaif ballooned a Fernando bouncer towards point where Marvan Atapattu swooped in to take a low, diving catch.

Not only did it sink India into further trouble, it also served to pump Fernando full of confidence. Whereas at Galle he was precise in line and only marginally wayward in length, Fernando today struggled not only with direction but also with a no-ball problem. With a wicket in his kitty, the radar was back to normal.

Ramesh followed Kaif when he typically failed to move his feet and poked at a delivery angling away from him. The faint tickle carried to Kumar Sangakkara to give Fernando his second wicket. Hemang Badani and Sameer Dighe are the new men in.

12.30pm India 90 for 3 (S Ramesh 31*, M Kaif 10*)
After adding nothing to their overnight total of 274, Sri Lanka snared three wickets, including those of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, to have India at 90 for 3 by lunch on the second day.

Coming in after the loss of two early wickets, Ganguly showed signs of being back to his delicious best. A flick for a couple of runs was followed by a flowing cover drive. But none of them could match, for pure ease, the silky square drive off Ruchira Perera in the following over. Ganguly even decided to take on the short-pitched bowling, throwing everything at a ball that came a few deliveries later. It caught the glove, and luckily for him, fell backwards off the man at square-leg.

Scoring briskly and confidently, Ganguly had nearly buried the early wickets blues when he departed driving Ruchira Perera casually into the hands of Hashan Tillekeratne at a wide gully, almost a replay of Kumar Sangakkara's dismissal yesterday. The 18 from as many deliveries was more assured than any of his 11 Test innings this year, but hardly added weight to the team total.

Sadagoppan Ramesh overcame his early awkwardness to move to 31 by lunch. Forgotten were the mistimed pulls and leading edges as he struck some elegant straight drives off Dilhara Fernando and Ruchira Perera. The shot of the morning however, was a carved cover drive off a sharp Muttiah Muralitharan offbreak. Mohammad Kaif survived a close lbw call first ball but played with a straight bat thereafter.

Aside from Harvinder Singh (three balls, no runs, one wicket) Chaminda Vaas was the best bowler on view this morning and he provided Sri Lanka with two vital wickets in his opening spell. Das looked nice and positive but umpire Wijewardene did him in with a terrible leg before decision. Vaas dished out a typical inswinger that caught the inside edge, a thick one at that, before thudding into the pads. That left India 11 for 1.

Rahul Dravid strode out with the air of man promoted to No. 3 and got off the mark with an exquisite flick off his hips. Two consecutive straight drives off Dilhara Fernando, one for four and one for three, served as confirmation of his form. But against the run of play, Vaas broke through again. Looking for the flick shot once more, Dravid moved across the stumps and the ball hit him right in front of middle stump.

India are in an almost identical position as Sri Lanka were at lunch yesterday. Can somebody do a Jayawardene?

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden Online in India.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd