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Galle
14 - 17 August 2001
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field first. Three overs later the players retreated to the dressing rooms to watch the rain for half an hour. A total of 20 overs were bowled in the morning session and India managed only 16 runs without loss by the lunch break. After the break they scoring mercifully quickened and by drinks the openers had moved the total to 52 runs. Sri Lanka managed to catch Ramesh (42) later in the session and at tea India was 1 for 95. Sri Lanka struck twice in the hour after tea removing Das (40) and Dravid (12) as India moved to 3 for 124. The decision to put India in to bat was starting to pay off as Sri Lanka then went on to claim the wickets of Kaif (37) and Badani (6) as India stumbled to 5 for 163 at stumps.
Sri Lanka broke through in the third over of the second morning to dismiss Ganguly (15) to have India at 6 for 176. Three overs later Srinath (0) retired hurt with a injured left hand and the remaining tail collapsed for a first innings total of 187 runs. Fernando was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 42 off 25 overs. Sri Lanka batted through the remaining 12 overs to be 0 for 44 at the lunch break. India claimed the wicket of Atapattu (33) in the hour before tea while Sri Lanka added 117 runs in the session to be 1 for 161 at tea with Jayasuriya having passing his eighth Test century. India dismissed Jayasuriya (111) early in the evening session at 2 for 171 and then, just after drinks were taken, rain delayed play with Sri Lanka 2 for 191. India dismissed Jayawardene (28) after play resumed with the score at 3 for 211. However, Sri Lanka was able to bat out the remainder of the day without further loss of wickets to be 3 for 264 at stumps.
Sri Lanka lost Arnold (20) early on the third morning before they passed the 100 run first innings lead mark. India then fought their way back into the Test claiming the wickets of Tillakaratne (11), Suresh Perera (1) and Vass (13) while Sangakkara struggled to move closer to a century. At lunch Sri Lanka was 7 for 330 with a lead of 143 runs. Sri Lanka added another 32 runs while Sangakkara (105*) passed his century before they were dismissed for 362 with a first innings lead of 175 runs. Srinath was the most successful bowler with 5 for 114 off 24.5 overs. India batted for the remaining hour before tea to reduce the deficit by 26 runs, but lost Ramesh (2). During the evening session India completely fell apart and lost any hope of any result other than a loss. Das (23) was followed back to the pavilion by Kaif (14) and Ganguly (4) as India slumped to 4 for 64 at the drinks break. India then lost Badani (5), Dighe (3) and Singh (12) to Muralitharan for 40 runs in total to be 7 for 104. Khan (3) fell shortly before stumps and India finished the day at 8 for 130 needing another 45 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
Dravid 61*), batting with the remaining tail, managed to get the total to 180 before Prasad (20) was trapped in front by Muralitharan. With Srinath not risking further injury to his hand this dismissal ended the innings leaving Sri Lanka the task of making 6 runs to win the Test. Muralitharan was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 49 off 26.4 overs. The Sri Lanka openers polished off the required runs to record a ten wicket victory over India.
Second Test
Kandy
22 - 25 August 2001
India won the toss and elected to field first.� Sri Lankan captain Jayasuriya (3) ran himself out early in the session with only 18 runs on the board.� The Sri Lankan batsmen then consolidated for a time, but just before lunch Sangakkara (31) and Atapattu (39) were dismissed and Sri Lanka went to lunch at 3 for 82.� Rain delayed play for 20 minutes after lunch and Sri Lanka scored quickly until Arnold (5) fell after posting the first 100.� Tillakaratne (10) followed before Sri Lanka made it to tea at 5 for 167.� Sri Lanka added 107 runs in the evening session thanks mainly to Jayawardene (104) being able to mount large partnerships with the tail enders and Vaas' lusty hitting leaving him on 42 not out.� When bad light stopped play Sri Lanka was 9 for 274.
India ended the Sri Lankan innings with the dismissal of Vaas (42) on the third ball of the second morning without any addition to the overnight score of 274. Zaheer Khan was the best of the bowlers with 3 for 62 off 22 overs. India began their reply poorly by losing the wickets of Das (8) and Dravid (15) before the drinks interval and then soon after Ganguly (18) was out at 3 for 68. The Indian batsmen then recovered to be 3 for 90 at lunch. Sri Lanka started to press home the advantage by taking three more wickets during the afternoon session. Kaif (17) fell at 4 for 120 followed quickly by Ramesh (47) and Badani (16) for India to be 6 for 154. India then went to tea at 6 for 161 still 113 runs in arrears. When Dighe (28) fell the only resistance came from Harbhajan Singh who was the last man out for 44 runs from 32 balls in India's total of 232 runs, thus giving Sri Lanka a first innings lead of 42 runs. Vaas was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 65 off 21 overs. Sri Lanka then went about adding to their lead, but lost Jayasuriya (6) early and at stumps was 1 for 52 with a lead of 94 runs.
India fought their way back into the Test on the third morning by dismissing Sangakkara (13) in the first over of the day and then Atapattu (45), Jayawardene (25) and Arnold (4) to restrict Sri Lanka to 5 for 124 and a lead of 166 runs at lunch. After lunch Prasad launched a devastating spell to remove Perera (15), Tillakaratne (16), Vaas (4) and Fernando (4) in the space of only 33 balls. Sri Lanka had crashed to 9 for 157 before Muralitharan added 64 runs for the final wicket and some respectability to the innings total of 221 when Muralitharan (67) finally fell after tea. Prasad was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 72 off 21 overs. India began their chase for the 264 runs required for victory by batting through the rest of the evening session to be 1 for 55 after having lost Das (19) shortly before stumps were drawn due to bad light.
Sri Lanka needed early wickets on the fourth day and they dismissed Ramesh (31) in the first hour of the day to have India 2 for 103. However, they had no further success during the morning and India went to lunch at 2 for 151 needing another 113 runs for victory. Sri Lanka gave Ganguly three chances during the afternoon and this cost them any hope of securing victory. While India lost Dravid (75) at 3 for 194, they went on to secure victory by seven wickets and square the series with the unfortunate Ganguly stranded on 98 not out. Muralitharan was the most successful bowler with 2 for 96 off 25 overs.
Third Test
Colombo
29 August - 2 September 2001
India won the toss and elected to bat first.� Sri Lanka was unable to apply any pressure during the morning session and the Indian openers were able to score heavily and went to lunch at 0 for 91.� Sri Lanka reclaimed the initiative by taking four wickets in the afternoon session.� After moving the total to 97 runs without loss Das (59), Ramesh (46) and Ganguly (1) all fell to Muralitharan to slump to 3 for 119.� Kaif (14) fell later in the session as India went to tea at 4 for 155.� India was unable to fight back as Muralitharan went through the evening session to finish the innings with 8 for 87 off 34.1 overs with Bandani (38) being the only other batsman to make a significant contribution in a total of 234 runs.� The Sri Lankan openers batted through the remaining half hour of play to be 0 for 13 at stumps.
India broke the opening partnership during the first hour of the second day when� Jayasuriya (30) was bowled with the score 1 for 48.� Sri Lanka then batted through to lunch to be 1 for 93.� The afternoon session mirrored the morning as India removed Sangakkara (47) in the first half of the session only to see Sri Lanka bat through without further loss to be 2 for 204 at tea.� Predictably, India dismissed Atapattu (108) in the hour after tea after Sri Lanka had passed the Indian first innings total.� However, India struck twice in the last half hour of play to dismiss Arnold (31) and Liyanage (3) as Sri Lanka ended the day at 5 for 323 with an 89 run first innings lead.
Sri Lanka dominated the third morning as they added 107 runs to their overnight total for the loss of Jayawardene (139) to go to lunch at 6 for 430. The afternoon session saw India awaiting the inevitable declaration and they were unable to break through during the session. Tillakaratne brought up his century during the session and at tea Sri Lanka was 6 for 553 with a first innings lead of 299 runs. Sri Lanka continued to mount an imposing total during the evening session while the Indians had no answer and were watching the series slip from their grasp. After Samaraweera (103*) brought up his maiden test century on debut and with Tillakaratne on 136 not out the Sri Lankans declared the innings closed at 6 for 610. Prasad was the best of the bowlers with 3 for 101 off 34 overs. With 376 runs needed just to force Sri Lanka to bat again, India batted out the remaining 13 overs to be 0 for 28 at stumps.
India started the fourth morning in a positive fashion but lost Das (68) just before going to lunch at 1 for 112. Sri Lanka continued to have difficulty breaking through the Indian innings during the afternoon. India lost only Ramesh (55) half way through the session and was 2 for 169 at tea. The evening session saw Sri Lanka gradually remove any hope India had of salvaging the game and the series. Sri Lanka broke through by running out both Dravid (36) and Kaif (6) in the first hour. Shortly before stumps Sri Lanka then caught Ganguly (30) and bowled Bahutule (0) as India ended the day at 6 for 217 needing another 157 runs to force Sri Lanka to bat again.
Despite some big hitting from the Indian tailenders, Sri Lanka ran through the remaining four wickets on the final morning. Sri Lanka dismissed Badani (11) and Dighe in consecutive overs with 221 runs on the board then Harbhajan Singh (17) at 9 for 369 before the drinks break. Khan (45) was the last to fall for an innings total of 299 runs giving Sri Lanka victory by an innings and 77 runs and the series 2-1. Muralitharan was again the most successful bowler with 32 for 109 off 46.5 overs.
