Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar hit 203 and debutant Suresh Raina made 120 as India bettered Sri Lanka's run-spree in the high-scoring second cricket Test on Thursday.
India, kept on the field for the first two days during Sri Lanka's massive 642-4 declared, responded by piling up 669-9 by stumps on the fourth day at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
With just 13 wickets having fallen on the placid wicket in four days, the batsman-dominated Test is heading for a draw with Sri Lanka enjoying a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Tendulkar and Raina, who came together on the third afternoon with India on 241-4 and struggling to avoid their second successive follow-on, put on 256 runs for the fifth wicket.
The 37-year-old braved the stifling hot and humid weather in the Sri Lankan capital for more than eight hours to play a marathon innings studded with 23 boundaries and a six. Tendulkar reached the 200-mark, his first in six years, with a flick off Ajantha Mendis for two runs.
Left-hander Raina became the ninth Indian to score a century in his first Test innings, before holing out to short mid-wicket off Mendis shortly after lunch. Raina, just 23 and already a veteran of 98 one-day internationals, was awarded his Test cap only after Yuvraj Singh reported sick on the opening day of the match.
Sri Lanka missed the wicket-taking abilities of the retired Muttiah Muralitharan and injured fast bowler Lasith Malinga as the young crop of bowlers failed to contain the Indians. Mendis finished with 4-157 from his 54 overs, while off-spinner Suraj Randiv failed to add to his two wickets on the third day and returned with 2-212 in 64 overs.
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