A valiant unbeaten 107 by Kumar Sangakkara steered Sri Lanka to a two-run first innings lead against India as the hosts piled up 251 for 6 before bad light stopped the play on the second day of the third and final cricket Test in Colombo on Saturday.
Sangakkara dispatched loose deliveries from spinners and pacemen alike with impunity and raced to his 17th Test century with the help of 11 boundaries.
Sangakkara also shared a dogged 95-run stand with night watchman Chaminda Vaas to pull his team out of any trouble after they lost opener Michael Vandort.
Though the Indian bowlers kept the Sri Lankan batsmen under a leash, a breakthrough eluded them for a long time.
Sri Lankans also overcame the loss of Tilan Samaraweera and Tilakratne Dilshan in the final session and it would be interesting to see if they could really consolidate on their lead on Sunday as the track seem to be wearing down.
Earlier, Vaas continued to frustrate the Indian bowlers as he dealt with the spinners with caution.
The crowd came alive when the left-hander drilled a Kumble delivery to the mid-off boundary for four runs. The pacer later survived a LBW decision after opting to challenge the field-umpire's decision and winning it in his favour.
Kumble went on the defensive positioning only one fielder for himself and Harbhajan after lunch.
Vaas finally went caught by Virender Sehwag off Harbhajan three short of his 14th half century. He executed nine boundaries during his long stay.
For India it surely was not a great day as they were playing without VVS Laxman, who suffered an injury while practicing in the morning and lost Sachin Tendulkar when he hurt his elbow while trying to grab a sharp chance of Vaas at backward short leg.
As if it was not enough, Ishant Sharma went back limping badly amidst his spell soon after tea, probably pulling his muscle.
The surprisingly thin weekend crowd at this old Saranvanamutu stadium enjoyed every bit of batting by Sri Lankans as Sangakkara and other batsmen worked towards taking the team to a position of safety.
Defying the pitch forecast for Saturday, Sharma generated a good pace of 140 kms and above and kept the batsmen on their toes.
When play began, South African umpire Rudy Koertzen was seen taking a close look at Sharma who was inadvertently landing near the danger area. There was, however, no official warning.
It was the turn of umpire Mark Benson to pin point the incident to Kumble soon after tea.
A determined Indian pace attack did not allow a boundary for almost half an hour when play began before Vaas flicked Zaheer to the cover boundary.
Displaying confidence, Vaas pulled Sharma to the long leg boundary and another one to the backward square leg.
India found the breakthrough when Vandort placed his front leg across towards the of stump and could not get his bat on time.
The umpire had no hesitation in the declaring the tall left hander leg before. Vaas and Vandort shared a 28-run partnership before being separated.
Sangakkara was a bit lucky when he uppishly hit past the diving point fielder of a Khan delivery and got a boundary.
The diving Rohit Sharma, substituting for Laxman, was inches away from the ball when it got past him.
The Indian bowlers hardly appeared to be making an impact in the second hour after drinks as the spin-pace duo deployed by Kumble struggled to keep the batsmen under check.
The vital breakthroughs eluding them, the Indian fielders were also found to be out of sorts on some occasions as they allowed the Sri Lankans to get away with some quick singles.
It was no different story when Harbhajan Singh was introduced into the attack with the two warding off any spin and waiting for the loose ones to score.
Sangakkara, slowly finding his lost touch shifted his line to outside leg and swept the ace spinner to the backward square leg boundary.
The vice captain got a life when a Kumble delivery failed to stick at the waiting hands of Rahul Dravid in the first slip.
The ball was sliding away from Sangakkara who pushed hard at it and the ball flew fast and Dravid in vain lunged to his left with a outstretched left hand.
A glimmer of hope came India's way when dangerman Mahela Jayawardene departed declared Leg before of Harbhajan for 2 runs.
It was not before the batsmen unsuccessfully appealed for third umpire review.
The perked up Indian spinners then tried hard to prevail over the newcomer Thilan Samaraweera.
Both Harbhajan and Kumble eventually accelerated their speed to unsettle the batsmen.
While Samaraweera was trying to come to terms against an improved Indian spin bowling, Sangakkara continued to hit the spinners.
Samaraweera survived a confident appeal from Kumble as the umpire review endorsed the field-umpire's verdict of not out.
The right hander was lucky for the second time when he successfully appealed for a review after being declared caught at short leg by Gautam Gambhir off Kumble.
Samaraweera finally departed caught by wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel of the bowling of Khan for 35. His knock included three hits to the boundary.
Dilshan then fell LBW to Kumble at the fag end of the day as the batsman's decision to opt for a umpire review proved futile.