It is extremely rare for a country to find a spin combination as lethal as that of Muralitharan and Mendis. Other countries have had their share through more than century of test cricket. But at first glance none so lethal as these two who ‘M’ out an Indian batting line up that has more than 30,000 test runs to their credit.
Muralitharan and Mendis took 19 of the 20 wickets to fall as Sri Lanka struck an awesome physiological blow to India as they beat them by an innings and 239 runs with one day to spare in the first test played at the SSC grounds.

This is Sri Lanka’s highest ever victory margin in tests over any country at the SSC grounds and the biggest victory over India. There were more records, but most importantly it was the referral; system that was tried out for the first time in test cricket that was one of the main focal points. This resulted in Indians Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid being given out via information from the third umpire.. While Indian captain Anil Kumble said the new system may have to be reviewed while his counter part Mahela Jayewardene stated it was good for the game.

Muralitharan who took more than 10 wickets in a game for the 21st time and adjudged man of the match for the 19th time was more vocal in support of the new system. At the post - match press briefing he said; “I do not think this system favours the bowlers. Both the batsmen and bowlers have equal opportunities. When it comes to bat pad decisions in particular, the on field umpires need assistance. It is better for them to get it right then there will not be a fracas like there was in Australia. With this system there can be no excuses. As for me I plan on playing till the next World Cup.

This is the best paying job in Sri Lanka and I enjoy the game. If anybody tells you that they are playing merely because they love the game they are lying. It is good to have Mendis alongside me. Now I can bowl less overs. Earlier I had to bowl 50 overs in day it was very tiring. Now I may have to bowl only about 30 to 35 overs. As for Mendis if he keeps his head he can go places. He has far more variations than I had when I first started playing for Sri Lanka and it was good to win because we were under pressure before the game.”

When asked as to why the Indians crumbled in just 117.5 overs, Murali said; “When you apply pressure at both ends the batsmen have to attack. That in turn means there is a far better chance of the batsmen making a mistake.”

Elated skipper Mahela Jayewardene said; “Once we had 600 runs on the board, we were always going to attack. Muralitharan and Mendis bowled really well on a good pitch but I did not expect India to capitulate the way they did. After winning the toss it was imperative that we put the runs on the board which we did. After that, any country will be under pressure. It is good for the team to get an extra days rest because the conditions in the middle were very humid. We will not decide on our playing eleven until we get to Galle. But it was a total team effort and we will continue to work hard and be prepared for India in the second test.

Mendis became the first Sri Lankan bowler to take eight wickets on test debut. He said he was very happy with his performance and never expected to do so well in this his first outing. He added that he was not nervous because the experienced players in the team had helped him a lot.

Kumble said that his team would just have to work on new methods to counter the Lankan spinners. He added; “When we win people say we were prepared. And when we lose they say we had not. They do not understand that we go through the same process before every game. As for me, like the rest I did my best, but on the day my best was not good enough. We have to restrict Sri Lanka to a reasonable total if we are to be competitive.

Former Indian cricket and now television commentator Arun Lal summed it up well when he told The Sunday Times; “Write about Sri Lanka’s bowling instead of India’s batting.”
The second test begins in Galle on Thursday.