First Test, Colombo (day four, close): Sri Lanka 600-6 beat India 223 & 138 by an innings and 239 runs
 Muralitharan (left) obliterated India's batsmen for an 11-wicket match haul |
Muttiah Muralitharan took 6-26 in the second innings to demolish India and seal a huge victory for Sri Lanka in the first Test in Colombo. India, following on, collapsed again in the face of Muralitharan, who took 11 wickets overall, and Ajantha Mendis. Debutant Mendis took 4-60, giving him eight wickets for the match, as India were skittled for 138, to lose by an innings and 239 runs. Gautam Gambhir's knock of 43 proved the only Indian resistance of any note. "We probably played a perfect game," said Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene, whose side took an emphatic 1-0 lead in the three-Test series as they dominated the fourth day.  | The spells by their spinners were great. Mendis is a find for Sri Lanka and you cannot take Murali out of the picture." |
"We put pressure on the Indians by scoring 600 runs," he added. "It is a good feeling that four of our top seven batsmen got hundreds. "It was not a bad wicket to bat on, but Murali and Mendis bowled brilliantly." Indian captain Anil Kumble admitted the Sri Lankan bowlers had outwitted his team. "It was tough for us to draw the match after they scored 600," said Kumble. "The spells by their spinners were great. Mendis is a find for Sri Lanka and you cannot take Murali out of the picture." Muralitharan ripped through the Indian batting, taking the early wicket of Virender Sehwag for 13 and subsequently striking at regular intervals. | 606: DEBATE |
India lost their remaining nine wickets in little more than a session, marking another disappointing performance with the bat. VVS Laxman fell to Mendis for just 21, trapped plumb in front on the back pad, and Sachin Tendulkar soon followed him back to the pavilion, caught at backward short leg for 12. Umpire Billy Doctrove initially ruled not out, having failed to spot the ball flick Tendulkar's bat as he attempted to paddle-sweep Muralitharan, but third umpire Rudi Koertzen overruled the decision on review. Muralitharan then snapped up the wickets of Gambhir (43), Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik and Anil Kumble. Mendis added the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan to his capture of Laxman. India's first innings had earlier been brought to a close well inside the first session. Beginning the day on 159-6, India put up some struggle through Laxman's 56, until a googly from Mendis ended his resistance to leave the visitors all out for 223. India must now regroup ahead of the second Test, which begins in Galle on Thursday, 31 July.
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