Anil Kumble led India's fightback with four quick wickets after Sri Lanka's fellow spinner Muttiah Muralitharan had demolished the hosts with a seven-wicket haul in the second Test here on Sunday.
Sri Lanka were strongly placed at 175-2 in their first innings in reply to India's modest 290 before floundering against leg-spinner Kumble to finish the second day on 198-6.
India had looked set to post a big total when they resumed on 245-3 but collapsed dramatically against
veteran off-spinner Muralitharan, who claimed five of the seven wickets to finish with 7-100.
The home side lost their last seven wickets for 36 runs as Muralitharan completed his 48th haul of five or more wickets in a Testinnings.
"I think what is going to be crucial on this pitch is who will be batting fourth. That way I think we have the disadvantage and Kumble also has a chance to bag more wickets than me," Muralitharan said.
"We will try to take the lead or at least get close to India's total. If we can manage that it will be fine, but I don't think a lead of 20 or 25 runs to either team will mean much."
Sri Lanka then got a dose of their own medicine when Kumble (4-54)
shattered their hopes of a healthy lead with four wickets in seven overs.
The visitors looked in control as skipper Marvan Atapattu (88) and Mahela Jayawardene (60) batted comfortably against both pace and spin to add 113 for the third wicket.
The experienced Indian spinner broke the stand in the closing session when he trapped well-set Jayawardene leg-before and then accounted for Thilan Samaraweera and Tillakaratne Dilshan off successive deliveries.
Jayawardene, who scored a solid 71 in the rain-hit drawn first Test at Chennai, batted fluently during his 103-ball knock before being
SEE PAGE 13 COL 2 FROM PAGE 12 dismissed. He hit nine fours in his 25th Test half-century.
Kumble got a big wicket when he had Atapattu caught bat-pad by diving Gautam Gambhir at short-leg in the day's last over. The Sri Lankan skipper hit 11 fours in his 14th halfcentury.
Kumble, who bagged all 10 wickets in a Test innings against Pakistan here in 1999, built on leftarm seamer Irfan Pathan's doublestrike.
Pathan trapped opener Avishka Gunawardene (25) leg before with a ball that came in and then had Kumar Sangakkara (three) caught by Kumble at gully with a delivery that kicked up.
Muralitharan was in the limelight in the morning session, troubling the Indian batsmen with his variations on a slow track to return the best figures by a Sri Lankan bowler on Indian soil.
The wily off-spinner began the slide with the dismissal of former captain Sourav Ganguly, who could add only one to his overnight score of 39 before being trapped lbw.
Muralitharan then got the prize wicket of Sachin Tendulkar (109), who smashed a world-record 35th
Test century on Saturday.
The Indian batsman hit one six and 14 fours in his 196-ball knock before being trapped leg-before attempting to sweep.
Muralitharan then made short work of the lower-order batsmen, dismissing Pathan, Mahendra Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh in quick succession.
Muralitharan bagged 5-23 off 10.4 overs in the morning session.
SCOREBOARD
Scoreboard at stumps on the second day of the second Test between India and Sri Lanka at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground in New Delhi on Sunday:
INDIA: First innings (overnight 2453)
Gambhir lbw b Vaas 2
Dravid c Mubarak b Muralitharan 24
Laxman c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 69 Tendulkar lbw b Muralitharan 109
Ganguly lbw b Muralitharan 40
Yuvraj lbw b Bandara 0
Dhoni b Muralitharan 5
Pathan c Mubarak b Muralitharan 0
Agarkar not out 14
Kumble b Bandara 8
Harbhajan b Muralitharan 7
Extras: (b-4, lb-8) 12
Total: (All out in 96.4 overs) 290
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-56, 3-133, 4254, 5-255, 6-255, 7-255, 8-260, 9271
Bowler O M R W
Vaas 22 5 77 1
Fernando 18 5 43 0
Muralitharan 38.4 8 100 7
Bandara 17 1 54 2
Dilshan 1 0 4 0
SRI LANKA: First innings
Gunawardene lbw b Pathan 25
Atapattu c Gambhir b Kumble 88
Sangakkara c Kumble b Pathan 3
Jayawardene lbw b Kumble 60
Samaraweera b Kumble 1
Dilshan lbw b Kumble 0
Mubarak not out 10
Extras: (b-4, lb-2, pen-5) 11
Total: (For 6 wkts in 70.3 overs)198
Fall of wickets: 1-54, 2-62, 3-175, 4179, 5-179, 6-198
To bat: Vaas, Fernando, Muralitharan, Bandara
Bowler O M R W
Pathan 16 7 20 2
Agarkar 16 4 40 0
Kumble 21.3 5 54 4
Harbhajan 15 0 67 0
Tendulkar 2 0 6 0