AP, Galle :
Sri Lanka slipped to 154-5 and was still 446 runs behind India’s huge first-innings total of 600 all out on Day 2 of the first test on Thursday.
Sri Lanka was 247 runs short of avoiding the follow-on, with only Angelo Mathews showing some resistance with his 54 not out.
Upul Tharanga scored 64 in Sri Lanka’s only other meaningful innings as the Indian bowlers made progress to follow the dominant performance by their batsmen.
India piled up the second-highest total by any team in Galle, and its second-highest ever in Sri Lanka, with big centuries by Shikhar Dhawan (190) and Cheteshwar Pujara (153), and half-centuries by Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Pandya.
Sri Lanka was 68-3 in its reply when Kusal Mendis fell for a duck to give Mohammed Shami his second wicket in an over.
Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka put on 61 and Tharanga and Mathews had a partnership of 57, but Sri Lanka was still in deep trouble by the close.
Shami took his two wickets in five balls, with Gunathilaka and Mendis both caught at first slip by Shikhar Dhawan.
Mathews and Tharanga had some nervous moments against the Indian spinners before Tharanga wasted his wicket by being run out.
Tharanga’s attempted drive was intercepted by silly-point fielder Abhinav Mukund, who threw the ball back to wicketkeeper Wriddiman Saha and when the bails came off Tharanga’s bat was in the air.
Mukund was in the action again when he pulled off a one-handed diving catch at silly point to dismiss Niroshan Dickwella off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Dilruwan Perera was six not out alongside Mathews, with only Sri Lanka’s tailenders to come and a big deficit to make up.
Sri Lanka is also one batsman short with allrounder Asela Gunaratne out of the rest of the test and the series after fracturing his thumb attempting a catch on the first day.
Seamer Nuwan Pradeep claimed a career-best 6-132 for Sri Lanka earlier in the day but that did little to hamper India.
Pujara batted for more than six hours and faced 265 deliveries in an innings sprinkled with 13 boundaries, but despite him departing early to end a 137-run stand with Rahane, India’s tail added plenty more runs.
Ashwin and wicketkeeper Saha put on 59 for the sixth wicket and Shami and Pandya 62 for the ninth wicket.
