COLOMBO: Sachin Tendulkar scored his fifth double-century in test cricket to help India reach 669-9 at stumps on day four Thursday, as the second test against Sri Lanka headed toward a draw.
Tendulkar shared 256 runs for the fifth wicket with Suresh Raina, who scored a debut century in India's reply to Sri Lanka's first innings score of 642-4 declared.
With a 27-run first innings lead for India and just a day's play remaining, the match is heading to a draw at Sinhalese Sports Club.
Offspin bowler Tillakaratne Dilshan took two wickets in the third over after tea having Tendulkar caught by wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene for 203 runs and Harbhajan Singh caught by Sangakkara without scoring.
The following is the scoreboard at the end of fourth day's play in the second cricket Test match between India and Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club here Thursday.
Sri Lanka 1st innings: 642 for four declared
India 1st innings (overnight 382/4)
Murali Vijay lbw Mendis 58
Virender Sehwag st Prasanna b Randiv 99
Rahul Dravid lbw Randiv 3
Sachin Tendulkar c Prasanna b Dilshan 203
V.V.S. Laxman lbw Mendis 29
Suresh Raina c Sangakkara b Mendis 120
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c & b Dilshan 76
Harbhajan Singh c Sangakkara b Dilshan 0
Abhimanyu Mithun b Mendis 41
Ishant Sharma batting 10
Pragyan Ojha batting 0
Extras (b 9, lb 5, w 4, nb 12) 30
Total (for nine wickets in 198 overs) 669
Fall of wickets: 1-165 (Sehwag, 36.1 overs), 2-169 (Vijay, 37.5), 3-173 (Dravid, 40.5), 4-241 (Laxman, 70.5), 5-497 (Raina, 140.4), 6-592 (Tendulkar, 162.1), 7-592 (Harbhajan, 162.4), 8-643 (Dhoni, 184.2), 9-668 (Mithun, 196.3)
Bowling:
Damika Prasad 19-1-96-0
Dilhara Fernando 31-1-116-0
Angelo Mathews 9-1-24-0
Suraj Randiv 64-14-212-2
Ajantha Mendis 54-7-157-4
Tillekaratne Dilshan 21-4-50-3
Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Rod Tucker (Australia)
TV umpire: Ranmore Martinez
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (Zimbabwe)
(Scoreboard from IANS )