NEW DELHI, Dec 13: India leg-spinner Anil Kumble struck twice in one over to leave Sri Lanka heading for defeat on the fourth day of the second Test on Tuesday. Kumble removed Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu for a defiant 67 and Malinga Bandara for a duck to trigger a collapse that sent the touring side, chasing a world record 436 for victory, slumping to 123 for five at the close.

Atapattu added 79 runs for the second wicket with Kumar Sangakkara, who made 33, after opener Avishka Gunawardene was out for nine.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh dismissed Thilan Samaraweera for a duck in the penultimate over, leaving Mahela Jayawardene, the last experienced batsman, unbeaten on nine.

The 35-year-old Kumble, who captured six wickets in the first innings, took a superb return catch to end the heroic effort of Atapattu, who also top-scored with 88 in the first innings.

Sri Lankan hopes were dashed when four wickets tumbled in the last session.

India earlier piled on the runs, Yuvraj Singh finishing unbeaten on 77 and Mahendra Dhoni on 51 following a breezy 104-run unbroken seventh-wicket partnership before captain Rahul Dravid declared on 375 for six.

The 24-year-old Yuvraj, recalled to the side when opener Virender Sehwag withdrew due to illness, smacked 10 fours and dug in for 15 minutes short of four hours for his second Test fifty.

Wicket-keeper Dhoni, playing in only his second Test, struck two sixes and five fours in his maiden half century.

Irfan Pathan had top-scored with a career-best 93 and Dravid contributed 53 to help India gain the upper hand on day three.

The 35-year-old Atapattu had carried Sri Lankan hopes of a draw. He played elegant drives against new ball bowler Ajit Agarkar and pulled Kumble twice for fours to reach fifty.

The opening batsman repeatedly came out of the crease to smother Kumble’s spin on a wearing Ferozeshah Kotla pitch.

However, Kumble, switching ends, cleverly held one back to force an uppish drive from Atapattu, taking a return catch inches off the ground to his left.

Left-hander Sangakkara gave his captain good support until he edged a drive off Agarkar behind the stumps.

Yuvraj played a mature knock, adding 55 runs from just seven overs with Dhoni after lunch before Dravid called them in.

India made 290 not out in their first innings before restricting Sri Lanka to 230 all out in reply.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings) 290 (S.R. Tendulkar 109, V.V.S. Laxman 69; M. Muralitharan 7-100).

SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 230 (M.S. Atapattu 88, D.P.M.D. Jayawardene 60; A. Kumble 6-72).

INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 237-5):

G. Gambhir lbw b Vaas 3

Irfan Pathan c Sangakkara b Fernando 93

V.V.S. Laxman c Sangakkara b Vaas 11

S.R. Tendulkar lbw b Bandara 16

R. Dravid run out 53

S.C. Ganguly b Muralitharan 39

Yuvraj Singh not out 77

M.S. Dhoni not out 51

EXTRAS (B-9, LB-16, NB-7) 32

TOTAL (for six wkts decl, 105 overs) 375

FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-42, 3-86, 4-178, 5-190, 6-271.

BOWLING: Vaas 21-4-65-2 (1nb); Muralitharan 38-5-118-1 (1nb); Fernando 22-5-75-1 (5nb); Bandara 20-2-74-1; Dilshan 4-0-18-0.

SRI LANKA (2nd Innings):

D.A. Gunawardene lbw b Pathan 9

M.S. Atapattu c and b Kumble 67

K.C. Sangakkara c Dhoni b Agarkar 33

D.P.M.D. Jayawardene not out 9

C.M. Bandara lbw b Kumble 0

T.T. Samaraweera c Dravid b Harbhajan 0

EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-4) 5

TOTAL (for five wkts, 50.3 overs) 123

FALL OF WKTS: 1-30, 2-109, 3-119, 4-119, 5-123.

BOWLING: Irfan Pathan 9-1-30-1; Agarkar 10-3-31-1 (1nb); Kumble 18-4-34-2 (3nb); Harbhajan Singh 13.3-4-27–1.—Reuters