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Sri Lanka 708 for 5 (Jayawardene 267*, Prasanna 134*, Dilshan 112) lead India 426 by 282 runs

India kept going through the motions, waiting, nay hoping, for a declaration but the Jayawardenes, Mahela and Prasanna, accumulated ruthlessly, scoring at close to four an over on the fourth morning, almost making sure Sri Lanka would not have to bat again. Along the way Prasanna got to his second Test century, Sri Lanka registered the highest total in India, Mahela reached 250 in the innings and 9000 Test runs, and their 333-run partnership became a new sixth-wicket record for Sri Lanka.

India took the new ball as soon as it was due, but the going seemed all too easy for the batsmen. Without taking risks, they kept getting boundaries, as the bowlers again failed to hit the same areas consistently. Zaheer Khan bowled off a shorter run, Ishant Sharma's pace wasn't up there - an edge that he induced when Prasanna was on 99 died on the keeper - and although the field setting suggested India wanted to stop the singles, the boundaries made up for it.

The senior Jayawardene set the agenda for the morning, driving on the up and late-cutting the fast bowlers for boundaries. Prasanna joined in, reaching his century with his fourth boundary of the morning. So while India seemed to have reduced the flow of singles, there were eight boundaries in the first nine overs, which cost 39.

Amit Mishra's introduction was welcomed with Mahela stepping out for two boundaries as he moved towards his 250. The game went on auto-pilot for the rest of the session: India had close to a day without a wicket, and looked it. The declaration didn't arrive by lunch, nor did frenetic hitting. There was a possibility that Sri Lanka were looking to save the two overs for the changeover, and could perhaps declare their innings closed during lunch.