India leg spinner Anil Kumble took three quick wickets on the fourth day to leave Sri Lanka struggling to save the final Test on Wednesday. Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-34, 4-81, 5-100, 6-134, 7-174, 8-198, 9-247.
Chasing 509 for victory, Sri Lanka, who trail the three-match series 1-0, were 235 for six at close of play. Jehan Mubarak (18) and Farveez Maharoof (two) were at the wicket.
Kumble, playing in his 100th Test, dismissed Kumar Sangakkara (17), debutant Upul Tharanga (47) and Thilan Samaraweera (five) after the visitors were 39-1 at lunch.
In-form batsman Mahela Jayawardene made 57, his fourth half century of the series, and led a brief fight back with Tillekaratne Dilshan.
The pair focused on survival, displaying sound defence on a Motera pitch where the ball bounced awkwardly.
They put on 105 for the fifth wicket before pace bowler Ajit Agarkar provided the breakthrough when he had Jayawardene caught and bowled, off a near-yorker length delivery.
Dilshan was dismissed on 65 for the second time in the match, caught behind by Mahendra Dhoni off left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan.
"When Mahela and I were in the middle, we thought we could draw this match," Dilshan told reporters.
"Unfortunately we both got out. But we have one recognised batsman left in Mubarak, so we'll take it session by session tomorrow."
Off spinner Harbhajan Singh, who took 7-62 in the first innings to give India a first innings lead of 192, opened the attack with Pathan.
He dismissed Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu in the last over before lunch, caught at forward short leg by Mohammad Kaif.
Sangakkara's exit, lbw to Kumble, triggered a collapse and three wickets fell for just 12 runs.
Tharanga, playing with three fielders around the bat, was caught at leg slip by Gautam Gambhir five runs later on a pitch that was increasingly aiding bounce and turn. He had struck eight boundaries off 117 balls for his 47, including a splendid cover drive off Kumble.
Two overs later, Samaraweera was snaffled at short-leg by Kaif.
"I thought the wicket dried and progressively played easy," said India coach Greg Chappell, referring to the final session.
India had resumed their second innings at 287-9 after heavy dew delayed the start of play by half an hour. They declared 20 minutes into the morning session.
The hosts' last wicket pair of Anil Kumble (29) and Harbhajan (40) put on another 29 runs to extend their stand to 69.
Sri Lanka have not won a Test on Indian soil in five previous trips.
INDIA 1ST INNINGS: 398 (V. Laxman 104, I. Pathan 82; L. Malinga 3-113, M. Muralitharan 3-128)
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS: 206 (T. Dilshan 65, H. Singh 7-62)
INDIA 2ND INNINGS (OVERNIGHT 287-9):
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V.Sehwag c Maharoof b Malinga 0
G. Gambhir c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 30
V. Laxman c Sangakkara b Maharoof 5
S. Tendulkar lbw b Dilshan 19
Yuvraj Singh c Sangakkara b Bandara 75
M. Kaif lbw b Bandara 9
M. Dhoni lbw b Muralitharan 14
I. Pathan b Muralitharan 27
A. Agarkar c and b Bandara 48
A. Kumble not out 29
Harbhajan Singh not out 40
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Extras: (b7, lb9, nb3, w1) 20
Total: (for 9 wkts declared) 316
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Bowling: Malinga 12-2-63-1, Maharoof 6-0-25-1, Dilshan 12-2-36-1, Muralitharan 21-5-90-3, Bandara 19-2-84-3, Mubarak 1-0-2-0.
Overs: 71
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS:
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U. Tharanga c Gambhir b Kumble 47
M. Atapattu c Kaif b Harbhajan 16
K. Sangakkara lbw b Kumble 17
M. Jayawardene c and b Agarkar 57
T. Samaraweera c Kaif b Kumble 5
T. Dilshan c Dhoni b Pathan 65
J. Mubarak not out 18
F. Maharoof not out 2
Extras: (b1, nb7) 8
Total: (for 6 wkts) 235
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Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-84, 3-89, 4-96, 5-201, 6-229
Bowling: Pathan 9-1-31-1, Harbhajan 27-6-68-1, Agarkar 11-3-18-1, Kumble 31-7-86-3, Sehwag 3-0-18-0, Tendulkar 4-0-13-0
Overs: 85
Toss: India
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Nadeem Ghauri (PAK)
TV umpire: Ivaturi Shivram (IND)
Match referee: Clive Lloyd (WIS).