Ranadeb Bose rocked the second string Lankan side in the post lunch session with two quick wickets as they ended up at 208 for six at tea after Lankan skipper Tilan Samraweera opted to bat first. Samaraweera was at the crease on 44.
Bose started the day looking as innocuous as in the side match against Sussex well over a fortnight ago. His first spell, 8-2-29-0 indicated another day of hard toil for him.
But the Bengal pace bowler did well to come back in the later stages of the first session in his second spell.
Turn around
He marked a turnaround in his fortunes when he dismissed Dilruwan Perera. The Lankan batsman looked in good touch against Indian bowlers and added 73 runs for the second wicket alliance with Michael Vandort. A momentary lapse in concentration saw him edging an away going delivery from Bose to V V S Laxman at second slip.
In the post lunch session, Bose gained fine rhythm and troubled batsmen, generating bounce and a reasonable pace from the pitch. He was rewarded soon with the wicket of Malinda Warnapura. The middle-order batsman flashed outside the off-stump and managed only to give an edge to Dinesh Kaarrthick behind the wicket.
But Bose soon plucked the big wicket of the day, Michael Vandort. The tall left-handed opener's uppish drive was grabbed by Gautam Gambhir at covers after initial fumble.
Impressive spell
Bose second spell read an impressive 6-2-7-3. His performance on the day was a far shoot from the match against Sussex, Bose's only competitive game on this tour, when he picked up just two wickets in as many innings.
However, Bose cannot claim to be the only protagonist of the day. He has to share that spot with Vandort.
The Lankan opener, who averages a shade over 52 in the Tests, has been in fine fettle in recent months. Nearly two months back he smashed his third Test hundred against Bangladesh and he looked set for another big score against a much more potent attack.
Vandort's innings was all about timing, and there was the touch natural elegance of a left-hander in his batting on the day.
Another notable feature of his innings was the way he used his feet against spinners, Anil Kumble and Ramesh Powar.
His nimble footwork was more pronounced against Powar. The Mumbai off-spinner was never afraid to toss it up to Vandort and the Sri Lankan too was not hesitant to accept the challenge, coming out of the crease and playing his shots.
Two successive boundaries off Powar – lofted over long on – brought up his fifty before Bose snared him. Ishant Sharma, who worked tirelessly in the morning session, finally received his just rewards. Kaushal Silva attempted a front foot pull, but he only succeeded in giving a tame return catch to Ishant.
Good partnership
Silva's dismissal pushed Lanka to a pale-looking 146 for five, but they still managed to inch past the 200-run mark without further damage, courtesy a fine 62-run partnership between Samaraweera and the adventurous Kaushal Lokuarachchi, who even attempted some crude slog sweeps against Kumble.
He had luck on his side as Kaarthick missed a stumping off Kumble when the batsman was on 14. The all-rounder, who recently stuck a quickfire half-century against Yorkshire to spur his team to win, threatened another similar kind of innings.
But Bose snapped the swelling alliance at the right time, trapping Lokuarachchi in front of the wicket to bring India once again in the match.        
SCORE BOARD
SRI LANKA 'A' (I innings):
Vandort c Gambhir b Bose 52
 (134m, 98b, 8x4, 1x6)
Udawatte b Powar 20
 (41m, 36b, 4x4)
Perera c Laxman b Bose 34
 (64m, 60b, 3x4, 1x6)
Warnapura c Kaarthick b Bose 3
 (12m, 14b)
Samaraweera (batting) 44
 (113m, 72b, 5x4)
Silva c&b Ishant  4
 (36m, 35b)
Lokuarachchi lbw Bose 35
(61m, 62b, 5x4)
Extras (B-4, LB-10, W-2 16
Total (for 6 wkts, 62.5 overs) 208.
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Udawatte), 2-105 (Perera), 3-111 (Warnapura), 4-122 (Vandort), 5-146 (Silva), 6-208 (Lokuarachchi).
Bowling: Ranadeb Bose 14.5-4-40-4, Ishant Sharma 13-5-28-1, Ramesh Powar 20-2-72-1 (w-1), Anil Kumble 11-1-36-0, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 3-0-13-0 (w-1), Yuvraj Singh 1-0-5-0.