Jayawardene seizes initiative

Mahela Jayawardene milks India's spinners as he advances to 204 not out, which gave Sri Lanka control in Ahmedabad

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Mahela Jayawardene’s sixth Test double century put Sri Lanka in firm command on the third day of the first Test against India in Ahmedabad.

The former captain blunted India’s attack en route to an unbeaten 204 and contributed handsomely to substantial partnerships with Thilan Samaraweera, who struck 70, and Prasanna Jayawardene, who made 84 not out, to edge Sri Lanka closer to their first Test win in India.

The tourists, who had resumed on 275 for three with Jayawardene on 36, ended the third day in a dominant position at 591 for five, a first-innings lead of 165.

The 32-year-old, who relinquished the captaincy in March this year to concentrate on his batting, played with skill and panache and was largely untroubled by India’s lacklustre bowlers.

The hosts began with spin from both ends in the morning and, while Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra produced considerable turn, they lacked sting.

Jayawardene and Samaraweera scored freely, forcing Mahendra Singh Dhoni to quickly push the field back.

Samaraweera, five away from his 20th half-century at the start of the day, cover drove Harbhajan to go to 50 and looked good for a hundred before Ishant Sharma broke through just after drinks.

Samarweera pull firmly to square-leg, where he was brilliantly caught by Yuvraj Singh in front of the umpire to a fourth-wicket alliance worth 138.

The balance swung slightly in India’s favour when Harbhajan won a fortunate verdict from umpire Daryl Harper which ended Angelo Mathews’ stay.

The Jayawardenes, Mahela and Prasanna, rehydrate during their unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 216 in baking conditions

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Mathews, who had hit Mishra for a six and four in the previous over, played forward to a delivery which spun off the pad and looped to Gautam Gambhir at forward short-leg, but Harper detected an edge the television cameras failed to see.

Runs came at a steady rate throughout the morning and the pace quickened in the first hour after lunch when India lost the plot, conceding 68.

It helped Prasanna Jayawardene settle in nicely and he played a solid hand, although not as fluent as his partner.

Mahela Jayawardene duly reached his 27th Test century and he continued to build nicely, steering Sri Lanka to a formidable lead.

Desperate for success, India’s spinners opted to bowl in the rough outside leg stump for much of the final session.

Mishra came agonisingly close on a few occasions, but rather than sever the partnership, the strategy only briefly stemmed the flow of runs.

With his leading bowlers proving ineffective, Dhoni called on the rarely used leg-spin of Sachin Tendulkar, but his seven overs yielded no breakthrough.

With just over two overs remaining, Mahela Jayawardene scrambled a single off Zaheer Khan to reach his second Test double ton outside Sri Lanka.