Colombo, Sep 1 (IANS): An unbeaten century from skipper Angelo Mathews backed up by a steady knock from Kusal Perera (70) helped Sri Lanka post 249/6 at tea on the fifth day of the third Test against India at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground here on Tuesday.
India pulled things back towards the end of the session as off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got rid of Perera, thus breaking a 135-run partnership. Mathews and Rangana Herath remained unconquered at 110 and 3 respectively at the break.
India still require four wickets whereas the hosts need 137 runs to clinch the contest.
Sri Lanka were in attacking mode after lunch as Perera latched onto any loose ball that came his way.
Perera went after leg-spinner Amit Mishra hitting him to the boundary twice in an over. All-rounder Stuart Binny also suffered his fair share of punishment.
Mathews was perhaps lucky to survive a googly from Mishra when he appeared to be trapped in front of the stumps. But the umpire turned down Mishra's appeal.
Ishant Sharma, who has been in good form in this series, was not in his element on the day.
The tourists finally broke the partnership as a rush of blood prompted Perera to reverse sweep Ashwin but the miscued shot found Rohit Sharma at point.
Earlier, resuming the day at 67/3, the islanders managed to add only 67 runs to the total till lunch. Captain Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera were unbeaten on 56 and 12 respectively as Sri Lanka were still 252 runs short of the target.
Umesh Yadav and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bagged a wicket each for the visitors in the morning session.
The Indians put relentless pressure from the very beginning, especially with Ishant bowling his heart out.
At the other end, Umesh Yadav reaped the reward as he got Kaushal Silva (27) to pull a bouncer. The right-hand batsman could only hook it to Cheteshwar Pujara at short mid-wicket.
Lahiru Thirimanne was peppered with short balls and swinging deliveries that jumped off good length but he weathered the early storm and supported his skipper well.
Their 33-run partnership was ended by Ravichandran Ashwin who bowled a looping delivery to Thirimanne (12).
The left-hander closed the face of the bat but the ball managed to fly off the leading edge. Lokesh Rahul at silly point grabbed it brilliantly.
Though the Sri Lankans were defiant at times, but the two wickets gave India the upper hand as they went into lunch.