Sri Lanka Beat India By 8 Wickets, Win Series By 2-1

Sri Lankan Captain Mahela Jayawardene holds the trophy after Sri Lanka's win in the series by 2-1.

Colombo: When the Indians took the field here on Monday, they knew that Abhinav Bindra had won on Olympic gold medal and created history in Beijing. But if fans expected an inspired performance from the cricketers as well, it was not to be. Bindra showed unmatched resilience and guts while Anil Kumple's men put up a depressing show and sank to an eight wickets defeat in the third and final Test, losing series by  1-2. All three Tests in this series have now ended on the fourth day.

The Sri Lankans, already sniffing victory when proceedings started, managed to restrict India to 268 in their second innings in the first session itself, then comfortably went past the 122 runs required for victory in 33.1 overs here at the P Saravamuttu Stadium here on Monday.

The last rites were completed by Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawqardene (50 not out) and Malinda Warnapura (54 not out) afterMichael Vandort and first inning century maker and Man of the Match Kumar Sangakkara were dismissed cheaply. Ajantha Mendis, with eight wickets in this match and a three-Test haul of 26, won the Man of the Series award hands down Muralithanran finished second with 21 scalps. In comparison, Harbhajan Singh bagged 16 wickets while Anil Kumble could manage only eight.

Brief Score: Sri Lanka 396 (Sangakkara 144) and 123 for 2 (Warnapura 54*, Jayawardene 50*) beat India 249 (Gambhir 72, Mendis 5-56) and 268 (Dravid 68, Laxman 61*) by eight wickets