Jolted by three quick wickets, India were left with the tricky task of scoring 204 runs for victory on a fifth day track after allowing Sri Lanka to stage a remarkable recovery in the third and final Test which seemed headed for a nail-biting finish on Friday.Chasing 256 for a win, the Indians were tottering at 53 for three at close on a thrilling fourth day's play which saw the hosts rely on Thilan Samaraweera (83) and tailender Ajantha Mendis (78) to salvage the situation after being at a precarious 125 for eight at one stage. The Sri Lankans recovered brilliantly from the dramatic middle order collapse to score 267 in the second innings and had snapped the key wickets of Virender Sehwag (0), Rahul Dravid (7) and Murali Vijay (27) to raise hopes of a 2-0 series win.Veteran Sachin Tendulkar (11) and night watchman Ishant Sharma (2) were at the crease at stumps on an absorbing day's play which saw fortune fluctuating from one team to the other. Earlier, Abhimanyu Mithun and Amit Mishra finally ended India's frustration with the Lankan tail as the former got rid of Samaraweera and the latter dismissed Ajantha Mendis to bring curtains down on SL's second innings at 267 all out, a lead of 256 runs.Thilan Samaraweera and Ajanthan Mendis proved to be a thorn in India's flesh after the visitors had taken six wickets in the morning session. Samaraweera made 83 and was involved in what could be a match-winning partnership with Ajantha Mendis who scored 78. The hosts were precariously placed on 125-8 before lunch but the pair batted sensibly to reach 225-8 at tea, a 214-run second innings lead.Before that, Indian spinners skittled Sri Lanka's lineup in the first session taking six wickets for 98 runs. Sehwag returned best bowling figures for India with 3-50 while Pragyan Ojha returned 3-80.India was dismissed for 436 runs in its first innings in reply to Sri Lanka's 425.Brief Scores:Sri Lanka: 425 and 267India: 436 and 53 for three in 18 overs. (M Vijay 27; S Randiv 3/20).