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India consolidated their position after Virender Sehwag cracked his 21st century as the visitors reached 282 for four at lunch on the third day of the third and final cricket Test here on Thursday.
India trail by 143 runs with six first innings wickets intact after Sri Lanka were all out for 425 yesterday.
Resuming at 180 for two, India added 102 runs from 29 overs in the morning session at the expense of two crucial wickets.
VVS Laxman was on 42 and Suresh Raina on 39 at the break having shared an 83-run stand for the unbroken fifth-wicket.
Resuming the day at 97, Sehwag completed his century in style with a four off pacer Lasith Malinga before he fell nine runs later.
Five overs earlier and in the first over of the day, Sachin Tendulkar was out for 41 and India lost two crucial wickets inside the first half an hour of the morning session.
Sehwag consumed 105 balls in his knock of 109 with the help of 19 fours.
Jolted by the two quick dismissals, VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina took some time to settle down on a sporting P Sara Oval pitch before steadying the visitors' innings to 282 for four at lunch.
The visitors suffered the first blow early in the day when Tendulkar, who became the most-capped Test cricketer in the match, flashed his bat on an away going delivery off Malinga without much foot movement to be easily taken behind the stumps by Prasanna Jayawardene.
Sehwag followed suit five overs later after hitting a boundary off Malinga as he fell to the same paceman caught by Suraj Randiv at mid-off.
Laxman and Raina took some time to settle down before the latter pulled an Ajantha Mendis delivery past the square leg and followed it by sweeping the same bowler to the backward square leg boundary in that over.
As Raina gained in confidence, he drove carrom bowler Mendis for yet another boundary before giving Suraj Randiv the same treatment later on.
Raina was though fortunate that a Randiv flighted ball spun from around the off stump but it dropped well short of point fielder.
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