Colombo, July 25 (IANS) India’s famed batsmen were in the firing line of coach Gary Kirsten Friday after their pathetic performance in the first innings left them facing the spectre of following on in their first cricket Test against Sri Lanka. India’s batsmen fell like a pack of cards and ended the third day at 159 for six in reply to Sri Lanka’s mammoth first innings score of 600 for six declared.

Kirsten said he was disappointed with the effort of his batsmen.

“We did not bat well. There were some poor shot played today and we have lot of hard work to save the Test match. We should have acted responsibly. Four of the six dismissals were not due to the greatest of shots when we look back at it and that put us under pressure,” Kirsten said.

He also said that Sri Lanka have dominated the Test so far and the visitors were lagging behind in every respect.

“To be very frank, we haven’t won a session in this Test match so far. We had a good session soon after the match got underway on Wednesday evening, but from there on, everything has been downhill for us,” Kirsten said.

Tillakratne Dilshan, who further consolidated Sri Lanka’s position earlier in the day becoming the fourth centurion in the first innings, said the hosts were in a good position to win the Test.

“We need to get the last four wickets quickly and then push from thereon. Personally, I was very happy with my effort. I missed a couple of hundreds in the last few series and I was glad to come back strongly. It has been a long wait for me and I am happy with what I achieved,” he said.