Colombo Test: Ajinkya Rahane scores fourth Test hundred

NEW DELHI: Ajinkya Rahane registered his fourth Test century and helped India extend their lead over Sri Lanka by more than 350 runs on Day four of the Colombo Test on Sunday. Rahane, who eventually got out to Tharindu Kaushal, formed a crucial alliance of 85 runs with Rohit Sharma for the fourth wicket, which gave India the impetus to accelerate the scoring in order to pocket a series-levelling win.
Match Scorecard
Rahane hit ten boundaries in his brilliant 126-run knock. The right-hander's all four century came in the overseas Tests - Melbourne, Wellington, Lord's and now Colombo.
The morning began much like the way the evening session had ended on Day three. Angelo Mathews attacked first up, making Rangana Herath bowl the first over, but unlike the first Test at Galle, the left-armer wasn't as effective. India's intention was clear - carefully see through the first half an hour and once settled, score as many runs as possible to give themselves enough time to bowl Sri Lanka out.
Vijay and Rahane went about their batting with the same approach and reached their half centuries - the Tamil Nadu batsmen being the first to get there. Rahane, who was a little troubled by Herath last evening, batted much better against the spinners on Sunday. He moved his feet well to Herath and didn't miss out on anything even marginally short by Kaushal. He looked the more determined of the two.
Rahane and Vijay brought up India's highest second innings century stand against Sri Lanka. Kaushal's approach was a lot better - he varied his length rather than going all full. Vijay, looking set for a seventh Test century, missed out by 18 runs when he was out leg before. Rahane and Kohli joined hands but Kohli looked patchy at the other end. The pair added another 28 runs before the Indian skipper was dismissed barely 10 minutes before the interval.
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