Delhi Test: India close in on win as Sri Lanka totter at 31/3 in pursuit of 410

India hurtled towards their ninth successive series victory as they left Sri Lanka precariously placed at 31 for three and staring at another humiliation in the third and final Test here today The visiting Lankans were set an improbable victory target of 410 to level the threematch series It will be a miracle if Sri Lanka manage to make it The 16 overs that they batted during the final 85 minutes of the fourth days play was with an aim to survive rather than play positive cricketRavindra Jadeja C celebrates with his team mates after he dismissed Sri Lanka batsman Dimuth Karunarathna during the fourth day Pic AFPIf the scoreboard is anything to go by the ploy boomeranged on the visitors who were again seen wearing antipollution masks the second time in the game The pitch has not deteriorated much but it is the straighter deliveries from the spinners that is causing maximum damageMohammed Shami 18 in 3 overs who was unwell after a threeover burst bowled a hostile spell and accounted for Sadeera Samarawickrama 5 A barrage of short deliveries unnerved the opener who was hit on the temple while fielding in Indias first innings Shami played on his psyche with welldisguised bouncers into his body iquest one such he fended awkwardly and offered a simple catch to Ajinkya Rahane in the slips The everaccurate Ravindra Jadeja 5252 had Dimuth Karunaratne caught behind giving Wriddhiman Saha his fifth catch of the match The decision to send Suranga Lakmal 0 as nighwatchman backfired as he played on while trying a forward defensive prodSkipper Virat Kohli 50 off 58 balls Rohit Sharma 50 off 49 balls and Shikhar Dhawan 67 off 91 balls made useful contributions as India declared at 246 for five with an overall lead of 409 runs With a cushion of 163run first innings lead the Indian batsmen showed intent to score quick runs scoring at a rate of 470 in the 522 overs they batted in the second innings It was a 77run stand in 172 overs for the third wicket between Cheteshwar Pujara 49 off 66 balls and Dhawan in the post lunch session that set the platform for Kohli and Rohit to accelerate in the final sessionThe Indian skipper and his limited overs deputy added 90 runs in only 152 overs Kohli had only three fours but ran brilliantly between the wickets along with Rohit who among his five boundaries had a gorgeous pullshot to his credit The moment he reached his sixth consecutive halfcentury in Tests Kohli signaled for a declarationIt was Pujara whose uncharacteristic batting set the tone for India in the second innings The Saurashtra batsman was even more attacking than Dhawan whose innings had five fours and a six down the ground off chinaman Lakshan Sandakan The two batsmen were especially severe on offspinner Perera Whenever he dropped it short the batsman hit him on either side of the wicketIf he tried to give flight they stepped out and maneuvered it for singles and doubles Pujara was finally dismissed when Dananjaya de Silva got one to drift and straighten taking the outside edge to land into Angelo Mathews safe pair of hands He was unhappy to have returned just a run short of another welldeserved halfcentury Dhawan completed his half century off 82 balls taking a single off Sandakan He was dismissed by the chinaman when he tried to loft him for his second six stumped by Dickwella What stood out like a sore thumb was another failure from Ajinkya Rahane whose woeful run continued Kohli promoted Rahane 10 to give him enough time to settle down and bat his way out of form However desperation to hit his way out of trouble brought about Rahanes downfall He stepped out to Dilruwan Perera and the lofted shot found Lakshan Sandakan at the longon boundary It came after Vijay 9 had played a lazy shot away from the body of Suranga Lakmal to give a catch to Niroshan Dickwella behind the stumpsEarlier courtesy skipper Dinesh Chandimals careerbest 164 Sri Lanka scored 373 in their first essay conceding a 163run lead to the hosts Ishant Sharma 398 got Chandimal to wrap up the Lankan innings The Sri Lankan players once again wore antipollution masks from the start of the Indian second innings due to the prevailing pollution in the national capital Lakmal in fact threw up a couple of times while fielding at the third man area and the groundsmen had to put sandFor a change the Sri Lankan players were wearing N95 antipollution masks required to protect the lungs from thevery poor air quality in Delhi