Dilshan delighted by inroads

Centurion Tillakaratne Dilshan admitted Sri Lanka had not expected to take six Indian wickets and be in a position to force a win by the end of the third day of the first Test in Colombo.

Dilshan scored an unbeaten 125 as the Sri Lankans declared on 600 for six at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Friday.

Muttiah Muralitharan then picked up four wickets, as India crashed to 159 for six, 441 runs adrift.

He and Ajantha Mendis bowled 30 overs of unchanged spin from just before tea to the close.

"We are in a great position," said Dilshan, who struck his fifth Test hundred and first since 2005.

"Ajantha is bowling really well, putting pressure on the batsmen and Murali has picked up four wickets. They are a great combination.

"We expected the wicket to turn and bounce a bit after lunch and we knew that if we bowled in the right areas we could pick up wickets.

"Our plan was to get three or four wickets and we certainly didn't think we would get six. The two extra wickets is a bonus actually.

"Our plan is to get the remaining four wickets as quickly as possible and then try and do the same in the second innings."

On his own performance, Dilshan said: "I'm quite happy with my batting and I was looking to keep the good ball out and score off the bad one.

"It's good to get a century in tough conditions. It wasn't easy out there, so its very satisfying."

India coach Gary Kirsten believed that some of the Indian batsmen had thrown away their wickets.

Gary Kirsten believes Sachin Tendulkar handled Sri Lanka spinner Ajantha Mendis well

"It hasn't been a good day. We actually haven't had a good Test match. I've been trying to find a session that we won, which we haven't yet.

"I think we have ourselves to blame. Of the six wickets which fell, I guess four of those wickets were not great cricket shots.

"Now Muralitharan has got four wickets in 15 overs, we are under pressure in a Test match and have a serious amount of work to do."

Kirsten said the team had gone in with a confident mindset despite facing a total of 600.

"This is a good cricket team and not so long ago they got some great totals, so we were pretty confident in mindset when we went into bat.

"But when we look back at this, I think we are going to be telling ourselves that we have got to be careful how we play Test cricket.

"Perhaps we are trying to take on too much and play too aggressively with too much flair.

"Perhaps we need to be more circumspect, maybe balance up the innings a little.

"We enjoy watching them bat when they play aggressively and when things are going well.

"But Test match cricket is a tough, long battle and we need to understand what we need to do out there."

On Sri Lanka’s new spin combination of Mendis and Muralitharan, Kirsten added: "Mendis is a new kid on the block and its going to take some time for players to get used to him.

"I thought Sachin handled him really well. But like I said, four of the six wickets were not great cricket shots and that is something we can control on our side.

"In hindsight when we look at it, we'd probably tell ourselves we wouldn't play that shot in a similar situation."

With two full days to be played, Kirsten said he expected the Indian batsmen to save the Test.

"One day of rain would be good," he said. "But seriously, as I said, we have some batsmen here who would be happy to bat for a full day.

"Each player would have to look at himself and ask what he can do differently and go out there and play a little differently.

"Yes, the wicket will break up a little more and its going to turn a little more.

"But it's a perfect opportunity for someone to step up to the plate and bat for eight, nine hours."