Sri Lanka walk away, led by Murali and Mendis. The first day was nearly washed out and yet, here we are in the fourth day and it’s all over. Mendis’ match haul of 8 for 132 is thebestby a Sri Lankan debutant, beating Kosala Kuruppuarachchi’s 7 for 85 against Pakistan in 1986. Indians couldn’t handle the double jeopardy. Total surrender.
More stats confirm the emphatic Sri Lankan victory. It’s also Sri Lanka’s third-biggestwin in Tests, and their largest against a team other than Zimbabwe.
And one more, from S Rajesh, our stats editor: Murali has dismissed Tendulkar seven times
, which is more than any other bowler. McGrath and Gillespie are next with 6.
Kumble: After getting 600 runs it was always tough for us to eke out a draw. Great spell by the two spinners. The review system is still a experiment; it has be to reviewed at the end of the series. It’s too early. Ajantha Mendis is a tremendous find for Sri Lanka. Great Debut. And you can’t take Murali out of the picture.
Mahela We probably played a perfect game. We put the pressure on the Indians by scoring 600 runs. It was not a bad wicket to bat on but Murali and Mendis bowled brialliantly. It’s a good feeling that 4 of the top 7 got hundreds.
Man of the Match: Muralitharan : We were under pressure before the game but I think Ajantha and my self bowled well. The wicket started to turn a little bit more and we did well. I had Vaas who would bowl well with me and now Ajantha is a new find. He is going to be the future of Sri Lankan cricket. When I started off my career, I was not as good as him.