Sri Lanka Beat India By An Innings And 239 Runs In first Test Match

Debutant Mendis and veteran Muttiah Muralitharan shared 19 wickets as Sri Lanka registered their biggest win against India in the the 1st Test in Colombo.

Colombo: Cluesless perhaps that one word best describes he Indians batting performance over the past tow days here at the SSC ground. The experienced Indian lineup just had no inkling about the guiiles of spinners Muraitharan and Debuted Mendis as Anil Kumble and his men crashed to oe of their most humiliating Test defeats ever. For the record, India lost by an innings and 239 runs in the last session of fourth day.

For Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan took 11 wickets in the match - his 21st 10 wickets haul and was right rewarded with the Man of the Match awar, his 19th overall. Ajantha Mendis, too, started off his Test career with a bang, claiming eight wickets.

This is India's Third biggest innings defeats. A list of most 5 biggest inning defeats given  below:

Innings & 336 runs against West Indies, Kolkata, 1958-59
Innings & 285 runs against Engalnd, Lord's, 1974
Innings & 239 runs against Sri Lanka, SSC Colombo, 2008
Innings & 226 runs against Australia, Brisban, 1947-48
Innings & 207 runs against England, Manchester, 1952
Innings & 193 runs against West Indies, Chennai, 1948-49
Innings & 177 runs against Australia, mebourne, 1947-48