Sri Lanka equals best-ever win

By Mohandas Menon

** The partnership of 48 run between Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan was the best for the ninth wicket by a visiting pair at this venue bettering the 45 by Australians Ian Healy and Shane Warne in August 1992.

** The last wicket stand of 30 between Zaheer Khan and Venkatesh Prasad was India's best against Sri Lanka, obliterating the 29- run efffort between Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma at the Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo in September 1985.

** Muralitharan's 11-196 was the third best match performance by a spinner against India after the 11-105 by Australian leg- spinner Richie Benaud in Calcutta (November 1956) and English left-arm spinner Hedley Verity's 11-153 in Chennai in February 1934. However Murali's performance was the best by a spinner in a Test match against India on foreign soil, bettering the 9-63 by West Indian off-spinner Lance Gibbs at Bridgetown in March 1962.

** The 23 wickets (avg. 19.30) in the series by Muthiah Muralitharan was the maximum by a Sri Lankan bowler against India. The previous highest was the 20 wickets (avg. 22.95) by pace bowler Rumesh Ratnayake during the three-match series in 1985-86 in Sri Lanka.

** The victory by an innings and 77 runs equals Sri Lanka best in Tests. The team had beaten Zimbabwe by an identical margin at the Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, in September 1996. Sri Lanka now has five innings victories - against Zimbabwe, New Zealand, South Africa, England and India.

** Incidentally, this was India's 33rd innings defeat in Tests and its first against Sri Lanka. The defeat was also Indias 17th largest in history.

** India also suffered its 73rd defeat on foreign soil in 162 matches and its third on Sri Lankan soil.

** Interestingly since December 1999, India has lost six and won three Tests abroad in nine matches.

**This was Sri Lanka's second series win against India after its first in 1985-86 - also at home.

**It was Sri Lanka's 13th series win in Tests out of the 50 series played by it so far (including the Asian Test Championship series).

** This was Ganguly first Test series loss as captain.

Note: No centuries have been scored by any of the Indian batsmen in the last two series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in five Test matches. The last Test hundred was the 126 by Sachin Tendulkar against Australia in Chennai in March this year. In the same period, seven hundreds - all during this series - have been scored against India.

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