Spin king Muttiah Muralitharan ran through the Indian middle order bagging four wickets as India slumped to 159-6 at stumps on day three of the
first Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo on Friday after the hosts declared on 600-6.

Sachin Tendulkar was bowled off Muttiah Muralitharan after adding a brief partnership of 44 runs with Sourav Ganguly as India slipped to 123-4 from being 74-1 at tea.

But after Tendulkar's dismissal, Ganguly (23) and Karthick (9) were also back in the pavilion with Muralitharan accounting for the duo.

Trailing by a further 441 runs, India seem heading for a follow-on.

Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis bowled Rahul Dravid (14) to claim his first Test wicket on debut after the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan had removed Gautam Gambhir (39)to claim his 150th Test wicket at SSC grounds, Colombo.

Virender Sehwag was the first man out for 25, trying to hook Kulasekara after facing 16 balls and hitting five boundaries.

India 1st Innings
Gautam Gambhir c T Samaraweera b M Muralitharan 39
Virender Sehwag c M Warnapura b N Kulasekara 25
Rahul Dravid b A Mendis 14
Sachin Tendulkar b M Muralitharan 27
Saurav Ganguly c N Kulasekara b M Muralitharan 23
VVS Laxman batting 19
Dinesh Karthik (wk) c & b M Muralitharan 9
Anil Kumble (c) batting 1
Extras: b - 0, w - 0, nb - 0, lb - 2 2
Total:(159 for 6 in 45 overs) 159 Run Rate: 3.53

Fall Of Wickets
1/36 (Virender Sehwag, 5.1 ov.), 2/79 (Gautam Gambhir, 17.3 ov.), 3/79 (Rahul Dravid, 18.1 ov.), 4/123 (Sachin Tendulkar, 31.5 ov.), 5/138 (Saurav Ganguly, 37.6 ov.), 6/147 (Dinesh Karthik, 41.6 ov.)

Bowling: Sri Lanka
Chaminda Vaas 5 0 23 0
Nuwan Kulasekara 7 0 38 1
Ajantha Mendis 18 3 58 1
Muttiah Muralitharan 15 3 38 4