Rahane Slams Fourth Test Hundred to Give India Advantage in Colombo

Ajinkya Rahane put India in the driver's seat with a fluent century against Sri Lanka on Sunday.(Scorecard | Blog)

Rahane came to the crease when Lokesh Rahul departed with the score on three on Day Three - Saturday. With Murali Vijay by his side, Rahane saw through the third day without any further alarms. Resuming on 28, Rahane was happy playing second fiddle to Vijay, who was well on his way to a hundred.

Rahane reached his fifty off 118 balls but lost Vijay soon after for 82. Rahane slowly and steadily inched towards his ton and even though he lost Kohli along the way, there was no shaking his resolve. He was unbeaten on 82 at lunch, with India leading by 266.

The hundred came soon after lunch. Rahane reached the milestone off 212 balls. The innings was scripted with the help of 7 fours. India are looking to set Sri Lanka a big fourth innings score to chase and Rahane's century may well be the turning point of the game.

While it was not an attacking innings, there is no doubt of the damage Rahane caused to the hosts. India may well be in a position to dictate terms as the game progresses and a lot of the credit goes to their number three - Ajinkya Rahane.

The 27-year-old does have the knack to get a big score when the chips are down and he showed it once again in Kumar Sangakkara's farewell match. There has been some talk of who is best suited to be the permanent No. 3 in India's batting order and the ton at the P Sara Oval will make a good case for the Mumbai batsman.

He eventually fell for 126 off 243 balls when he was caught behind of Kaushal. By then India's lead was almost 350. His innings was punctuated by 10 fours.