Jubilant Sri Lanka break 16-year drought as India crumble

Galle, Sri Lanka, August 17: Sri Lanka's captain Sanath Jayasuriya warned team-mates of an Indian backlash after the tourists crashed to a 10-wicket defeat in the first Test here on Friday.

"We expect them to fight back," Jayasuriya said as his team wrapped up the match before lunch on the fourth day to secure Sri Lanka their first win against India in 16 years.

The left-hander, who hit 340 and 199 in consecutive Tests against the Indians in 1997, took a majestic 111 off his favourite whipping boys here to win the man of the match award.

Sri Lanka last beat India at the Sara stadium in Colombo in 1985, giving them two wins in 21 years against their sub-continent neighbours.

But Sri Lanka's Australian coach Dav Whatmore played down the win, saying he will be satisfied only if the hosts repeated this performance in the remaining two Tests.

"We played this game very well, but it will not be good enough if we are not consistent," Whatmore said.

The Indians, meanwhile, cancelled a scheduled two-day holiday at a beach resort to practice in Kandy where the second Test starts next Wednesday.

"We have just got to work harder because the Sri Lankans are not easy to beat," Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said.

"There are no excuses to offer. We played badly, we batted and bowled badly, it was just not good enough Test performance."

India's two innings here of 187 and 180 were their lowest against Sri Lanka, falling short of the 198 they made in the Colombo Test of 1985.

"When you are bowled out for 187 in the first innings, it is not easy to come back," Ganguly said.

He can, however, take heart from the home series against Australia earlier this year when India fought back after a three-day defeat in the first Test and a 274-run follow-on margin in the second to win 2-1.

The difference here is that India are missing four top players, including batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar, and the captain is struggling to find form with the bat.

Ganguly failed to reach double figures on the recent tour of Zimbabwe and was dismissed for 15 and four here, raising speculation that the pressures of captaincy was telling on his batting.

"Captaincy and batting are two different things," Ganguly rubbished the claim. "The bottom line is that I need a big score and I am confident I will get it soon.

"All players go through a bad patch, so I am not worried. I'll just work harder in the nets."

The Sri Lankans needed six to win after India made 180 in their second innings to avoid an innings defeat.

Sri Lanka met unexpected resistence from the Indians, who resumed their second innings at 130 for eight, still requiring 46 runs to make the hosts bat a second time.

The ninth-wicket pair of Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad carried their overnight stand to 60, the second highest by India in the match after the opening partnership of 79 in the first innings.

With Javagal Srinath unable to bat with a swollen hand, Prasad stepped in to hold fort for an hour and 10 minutes as Dravid struck a defiant 61 not out at the other end.

The pair took the total past 175 to save their team the embarrasment of an innings defeat, but the effort came too late for the tourists.

Muttiah Muralitharan trapped Prasad leg-before for 20, giving the prolific off-spinner figures of five for 49 in the innings and eight wickets in the match.

Muralitharan's haul of 325 wickets in 63 Tests, includes 28 in the last three matches at the Galle international stadium where Sri Lanka have won four of their last six Tests.