25 November,2009 12:47 PM IST | | AFP
Rahul Dravid scored his 28th century as India reached a strong 535-4 at lunch on the second day of the second Test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
Dravid smashed 15 fours and a six in his superb 144-run knock and shared 94 runs for the third wicket with Sachin Tendulkar (40) to build on India's overnight score of 417-2.
VVS Laxman was unbeaten on 24 with Yuvraj Singh on 13 at the break.
Dravid was the third Indian batsman to score a century after Gautam Gambhir (167) and Virender Sehwag (131) put on 233 runs for the opening wicket to lay the platform for a huge first innings total.
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Dravid, nicknamed the "Wall" for his technically solid batting, reached his century with an elegantly-driven four off left-arm paceman Chanaka Welegedara to the mid-off fence.
The batsman is now ninth in the list of top-ten century makers, surpassing Australia's retired captain Allan Border and Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene, who both have 27 centuries against their names.
Sri Lanka tasted success early in the morning session when unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis managed to fox Tendulkar, after struggling without luck on the opening day of the match.
Tendulkar, dropped on 30 when Tillakaratne Dilshan failed to latch on to a catch at mid-wicket off quick Angelo Mathews, lofted Mendis for a six but fell in the same over by holing out to Thilan Samaraweera at mid-off.
The batting superstar, who holds the record for most runs and centuries in Tests and one-day internationals, did not hit even a single boundary during his unusually subdued 91-ball knock.
Dravid, though, seemed unrattled by the dismissal of his more famous partner, hitting classic shots against both Mendis and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.
Left-arm spinner Rangana Herath was not spared either, with Dravid dancing down the track to hit a six over the long-on fence and following it up with fours to the extra-cover and point regions.
Dravid, the fifth highest run-getter in Tests, was run out in unfortunate circumstances with Herath managing to hit the stumps at the non-striker's end after dropping a sharp drive from Laxman.
The third and final Test begins in Mumbai on December 2.
