India escape with draw

Gautam Gambhir made 114 and Sachin Tendulkar hit an unbeaten 100 as India batted out the final day to draw the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka.

India easily wiped out a huge first innings deficit of 334 runs as they scored 4-412 in their second knock before the high-scoring Test was called off with six overs remaining on the fifth day.

Tendulkar, 36, set a new benchmark of 30,000 international runs at the start of his third decade in the game to frustrate Sri Lanka's bid to win their first Test on Indian soil.

Tendulkar, who smashed his 43rd Test century, put on 66 for the fourth wicket with Gambhir and 137 for the unbroken fifth with Venkatsai Laxman, who made 51 not out.

In total 1,598 runs were scored at the cost of just 21 wickets over the five days.

World bowling record holder Muttiah Muralitharan failed to take a wicket in 38 overs which cost 124 runs and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath went for 2-97 in 40 overs.

Tendulkar ended the match with a Test career tally of 12,877 runs, building on the 17,188 one-day and 10 Twenty20 runs he has scored since making his debut on November 15, 1989 against Pakistan in Karachi.

"It was a bit disappointing to draw the game," said Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara. "It was a pretty flat track that did not have much for the bowlers.

"We were thinking positive on the final day and needed something to go our way but that did not happen.

"We did not gain any psychological edge. It's pretty Even Stevens going into the next match but I am happy the way the team played as a unit.

"There are a lot of positives to take from the game, like our batting and the bowling of Welegedara, who was told just before the toss that he was playing after the injury to Thilan Thushara."

Gambhir's seventh Test century was the third in successive matches this year after making 137 in Napier and 167 in Wellington on India's tour of New Zealand in March-April.

The Delhi opener kept vigil for six hours and 37 minutes when he attempted to loft Herath soon after lunch and holed out to mid-off.

Nightwatchman Amit Mishra, who came in at the fall of Rahul Dravid's wicket on Thursday evening, batted for 45 minutes in the morning session before falling to a brilliant catch by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Dilshan, who had floored a sharp chance off Mishra in the slips earlier in the day, dived to his right at leg-gully to pick up a low catch as the batsman flicked seamer Angelo Mathews.

Mishra made 24 in a 40-run stand for the third wicket with Gambhir.

Tendulkar, who was dismissed for four in the first innings, appeared determined to play a big knock when he hit four boundaries in his first 17 runs.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said he was delighted by the way his team fought back after conceding a huge lead.

"I am really proud of this achievement," he said. "We had to handle our nerves and that is what we showed. It was not easy to bowl on this wicket but our bowlers bowled their hearts out.

"I am not worried about our batting because we can handle any situation. We expected the wicket to have a bit more bounce for the spinners, but it favoured the batsmen all the way.

"I expect this series to be very close."

India made 426 in the first innings and Sri Lanka replied with a mammoth 7-760 declared, the highest total ever scored on Indian soil.

The second Test starts in Kanpur on Tuesday, followed by the third at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai from December 2.

- Reuters