Gambhir, 74 overnight, posted his seventh Test century when he flicked medium-pacer Angelo Mathews to the fine-leg boundary.

The left-hander fell for 114 after lunch when he mistimed a lofted drive off left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and was caught by Dammika Prasad at mid-off.

Sachin Tendulkar was particularly severe on Muttiah Muralitharan, hitting the spinner for a series of boundaries.

Resuming on 190 for two, night-watchman Amit Mishra (24) dug in for 11 overs to deny the visitors an early breakthrough.

Sri Lanka's attack was weakened, with Dammika Prasad bowling just four overs on the final day due to a hamstring injury.

Tendulkar became the first player to score 30,000 international runs during the course of the fifth and final day of the Test. He then proceeded to score a hundred, his 43rd Test ton, as the home team put up 412 for four before the captains agreed to call off play.

The hosts wiped out a 334-run first innings deficit and were 78 ahead when play ended as soon as Tendulkar posted his century.

It was the seventh hundred in a high-scoring match.

Tendulkar, who holds the record for most runs and centuries in Test and One-day cricket, shared a 66-run fourth wicket stand with Gambhir, and an undefeated 137 for the next with VVS Laxman (51 not out) as India avoided a first home Test defeat by Sri Lanka.

Mahela Jayawardene was named Man-of-the-Match for his splendid innings of 275, his sixth double century in Tests, that saw Sri Lanka amass a mammoth first innings score of 760 for 7 declared.