Sri Lanka win by an innings and 239 runs.

Indian batting totter as mystery man Mendis and danger man Muralitharan proved dangerous in 2nd innings too. The new 'spin twins', playing their first test match together, then ripped through the tourists top order for the second time, dismissing Virender Sehwag (13), VVS Laxman (21), Sachin Tendulkar (12), Gautam Gambhir (43), Sourav Ganguly (four) and Rahul Dravid (10).

Poor batting by top order of India and some fantastic bowling by the two spinners led Sri Lanka to victory by an innings and 239 runs. Muralitharan continuing his great form,snared five for 84 from 29 overs in the first innings and then claimed a further six for 26 from 13 overs in the second innings. Mendis, an unorthodox finger spinner, claimed four for 72 from 27.5 overs in the first innings and another four for 60 in the second innings to finish with eight for 132 on his test debut.

In the morning, the only resistance to Sri Lanka's spinners came from VVS Laxman, who batted patiently for his 56 off 118 deliveries and was the only Indian to pass 50 in the game.

With India on 159-6 overnight, Mendis struck early in the morning when Anil Kumble was trapped lbw for one. It looked like the Indian batsman were overconfident of their batting line-up. poor fielding & ordinary batting by Indian batsman , resulted in a record victory at home for Sri Lanka.

In the second innings, Muralitharan needed just four balls to strike as Virender Sehwag (13) padded away a delivery from around the wicket. the initial appeal was turned down but Sri Lanka successfully challenged the decision, with third umpire Rudi Koertzen adjudging the ball had pitched in line with the stumps.

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed match figures of 11-110 as Sri Lanka won the first test against India by an innings and 238 runs on Saturday.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 600-6 dec (Warnapura 115, Jayawardene 136, Samaraweera 127, Dilshan 125 not out )
India 223 (Muralitharan 5-84, Mendis 4-72) & 138 (Muralitharan 6-26, Mendis 4-60)

The second test at Galle starts on Thursday.







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