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IND win 3 - 0 IND gains 21 points; SL loses 21 points
Draw 1.5 - 1.5 SL gains 2 points; IND loses 2 points
SL win 3 - 0 SL gains 24 points; IND loses 24 points
Chennai
02 - 06 December 2005
Rain and poor weather prevented any play on the first three days of the Test, automatically condemning the result to a draw.
Play eventually began mid way through the fourth day. India won the toss and elected to bat first. Sri Lanka made the better start, dismissing Gambhir (0) in the third over and then Sehwag (36) in the ninth over to have India 2 for 45. By stumps, India was 2 for 90.
Sri Lanka ran through the Indian batsmen on the final morning, dismissing Dravid (32), Tendulkar (22), Laxman (5), Ganguly (5), Pathan (0), and Agarkar (4) in the space of 31 runs and two hours to have India 8 for 128. India then steadied before going to lunch at 8 for 153. Sri Lanka quickly dismissed Kumble (9) and Dhoni (30) after lunch and India was all out for 167 runs. Vaas was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 20 off 21 overs. Sri Lanka began their reply, losing Gunawardene (4) in the first over to be 1 for 5. Sri Lanka then batted almost until tea before Sangakkara (30) was trapped in front. By tea, Sri Lanka was 2 for 81. India dismissed Jayawardene (71) and Atapattu (7) during the evening session and when the match was eventually declared a draw, Sri Lanka was 4 for 168.
Second Test
New Delhi
10 - 14 December 2005� �������
India won the toss and elected to bat first after heavy dew delayed play for 30 minutes. Sri Lanka made an early break through in the first over when Ghambir (2) was trapped in front. India then consolidated and batted until almost lunch before Dravid (24) was caught at 2 for 56. By Lunch, Sri Lanka held a slight advantage with India 2 for 68. Sri Lanka began to struggle during the afternoon session as the pitch lost its early assistance for the bowlers. Sri Lanka managed to catch Laxman (69) at 3 for 133, however, by tea, India had evened the match up with the score 3 for 164. Sri Lanka was unable to a wicket during the final session. But the main story was Tendulkar, who equalled Gavaskar's 125 Tests played in this match. Off the final ball of the day, Tendulkar finally brought up his 35th Test century to overtake Gavaskar's record of 34. Light was then offered and accepted and India finished the day very well placed at 3 for 245.
Sri Lanka made a very good start to the second day, with Muralitharan and Bandara combining to take 6 for 36. Ganguly (40) fell at 4 for 254 and Yuvraj Singh (0), Tendulkar (109) and Pathan (0) fell for the addition of one run as India suddenly found themselves 7 for 255. Soon afterwards, Dhoni (5), Kumble (8) and Harbhajan Singh (7) were dismissed and India was all out for 290 runs. Muralitharan was the destroyer with 7 for 100 off 38.4 overs, his 48th five-wicket haul in Tests. Sri Lanka began their reply and was no wicket for 14 at lunch. Sri Lanka batted sedately at just over two runs per over through the afternoon session, but lost Gunawardene (25) and Sangakkara (3) in the space of eight runs to be 2 for 62. Sri Lanka then consolidated and at tea, Sri Lanka was 2 for 103. India, with the advantage of the runs on the board, began to enhance that advantage through the evening session as Kumble dismissed Jayawardene (60), Samaraweera (1), Dilshan (0) and Atapattu (88). Sri Lanka added 95 runs in the session to end the day on the back foot with 6 for 198, still 92 runs in arrears.
India dismissed Vaas (2), Bandara (1), Muralitharan (9) and Fernando (0) in the space of 30 runs on the third morning to have Sri Lanka all out for 230 runs. Kumble was the best of the bowlers with 6 for 72 off 28 overs, his 30th five-wicket haul in Tests. India began their second innings with a handy 60 runs first innings lead. However, Vaas trapped Gambhir (3) in front to claim his 300th Test wicket at 1 for 12. India later lost Laxman (11) at 2 for 42 and then Tendulkar (16) at 3 for 86. India then consolidated before going to tea at 3 for 143, with an overall lead of 203 runs. India continued to strengthen their position through the evening session. Despite losing Pathan (93) and Dravid (53) in the space of 12 runs, when bad light ended the day, India was in a very strong position at 5 for 237, with a seemingly match winning overall lead of 297 runs.
Sri Lanka bowled Ganguly (39) on the fourth morning at 6 for 271. However, Sri Lanka was unable to finish the Indian tail off and they managed to bat through to be 6 for 320 at lunch. With an overall lead now of 380 runs, India had the game by the throat. India eventually declared at 6 for 375, with Yuvraj Singh (77*) and Dhoni (51*) the not out batsmen. Vaas was the best of the bowlers with 2 for 65 off 21 overs. Sri Lanka was then left with a most unlikely 436 run target for victory and lost Gunawardene (9) at 1 for 30. By tea, Sri Lanka was 1 for 62. Sri Lanka continued to consolidate after tea and passed 100 before India struck hard. Sri Lanka lost Sangakkara (33), Atapattu (67), Bandara (0) and Samaraweera (0) in the space of 14 runs to be shipwreked at 5 for 123 at stumps.
India began the final day by dismissing Mubarak (3) in the first half hour. However, Sri Lanka refused to yield quickly and India had to wait until just before lunch for Dilshan (32) to be bowled. At lunch, Sri Lanka was 7 for 203. Sri Lanka took the total to 243 before Jayawardene (67), Vaas (17) and Muralitharan (2) fell in the space of four runs for them to be all out for 247 runs, handing victory to India by 188 runs. Kumble was the best of the bowlers, taking 4 for 85 off 36 overs and claiming 10 for 157 for the match, his eighth 10-wicket Test.
Third Test
Ahmedabad
18 - 22 December 2005
Heavy dew delayed play by an hour on the first morning. Eventually, India won the toss and elected to bat first. After a quick start, Gambhir (19) was caught at 1 for 31. By lunch, India was 1 for 51 from only 12 overs. India lost Sehwag (20) straight after lunch and then with 88 runs on the board, Tendulkar (23) and Yuvraj Singh (0) were caught in the space of three balls. Sri Lanka then dismissed Kaif (4) nine runs later to have India in significant difficulty at 5 for 97. By tea, India had taken the score to 5 for 125. India consolidated after the break and managed to take the total to 183 before Dhoni (49) was trapped in front. India then began to pile on the runs during the evening session until bad light stopped play with the score 6 for 247 and had substantially reduced Sri Lanka's earlier advantage.
Sri Lanka was unable to contain India on the second morning. Laxman posted his ninth Test century before being bowled for 104 runs. The tail then wagged as Pathan (82), Agarkar (26) and Kumble (21) managed to get the Indian first innings total to a commanding 398 runs. Malinga (3 for 113 off 32 overs) and Muralitharan (3 for 128 off 36 overs) shared the bowling honours. Sri Lanka began their reply, but lost Tharanga (2) at 1 for 14. By tea, Sri Lanka was 1 for 30, still 169 runs short of their first hurdle, the follow on target. India grabbed control of the match on the second evening, dismissing Atapattu (40) and Jayawardene (0) in successive balls at 3 for 74 and then Samaraweera (1) and Sangakkara (41) to have Sri Lanka 5 for 105. Bu stumps, Sri Lanka had staggered to 5 for 131, still 68 runs short of the follow on target.
After heavy dew delayed play on the third morning, India resumed where they had left off the previous evening. India dismissed Mubarak (13) Maharoof (4), Dilshan (65), Muralitharan (3) and Malinga (0). However, India was unable to prevent Sri Lanka passing the follow on target and Sri Lanka was all out at lunch for 206 runs. Harbhajan Singh was the best of the bowlers with 7 for 62 off 22.2 overs, his 17th five-wicket haul in Tests. India began their second innings after lunch and immediately lost Sehwag (0) and Laxman (5) to be 2 for 9. After a brief recovery, Tendulkar (19) fell at 3 for 34. Sri Lanka later dismissed Ghambir (30) and Kaif (9) before India went to tea at 5 for 134, with an overall lead of 326 runs. India lost Dhoni (14) on the first ball after tea and later, Sri Lanka dismissed Yuvraj Singh (75), Pathan (27) and Agarkar (48) before ending the day at 9 for 287, with what would probably be a match winning overall lead of 479 runs.
Heavy dew again delayed play on day four. When play eventually began, India faced four overs before declaring at 9 for 316, leaving Kumble (29*) and Harbhajan Singh (40*) the not out batsmen. Muralitharan (3 for 90 off 21 overs) and Bandara (3 for 84 off 19 overs) shared the bowling honours. Sri Lanka then began their unlikely chase for the 509 runs required for victory, but lost Atapattu (16) at 1 for 39 on the stroke of lunch. India relentlessly applied the pressure during the afternoon session and Sangakkara (17), Tharanga (47) and Samaraweera (5) failed to resist as Sri Lanka went through to be 4 for 160 at tea, still 349 runs from victory. Sri Lanka had a better session after tea, but still lost Jayawardene (57) and Dilshan (65) to end the day at 6 for 235, still 274 runs from victory.
India made short work of the match on the final morning. India trapped Maharoof (2) in front and then caught Mubarak (18) in consecutive overs before Sri Lanka had added a run to the overnight total. Ten runs later, Muralitharan (3) was bowled and finally Bandara (11) was caught and Sri Lanka was all out for 249 runs, handing India victory by 259 runs. Kumble was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 89 off 34.3 overs, his 31st five-wicket haul in Tests.
