Dav Whatmore: We now have to be ruthless

We have been down this road before - one nil up with two Test matches to play after an emphatic victory in Galle. Against South Africa last year and England in March, however, our form dipped in Kandy and we failed to capitalise on series winning opportunities. This time we have to be more ruthless.

Quite simply, we have waited too long - it's been 16 years since Duleep Mendis' side won a Test series against India. We have to follow the lead of the single-minded Australians: be extremely positive and go for the jugular.

We are well aware of what happened against England and South Africa. However, to make sure it doesn't happen again, we will not be focusing on those results but on the processes that will lead towards success this time round. If the players concentrate on their specific roles and responsibilities, then the right result should follow.

The 10-wicket win in Galle was very pleasing because, right from the outset, we were positive, both in terms of the pitch surface, which had a generous covering of grass, and in the unprecedented selection of four fast bowlers.

The pitch itself was actually quite dry underneath and, although there was some extra grass and a little more bounce, it was fairly sluggish in pace. Nevertheless, though we could have batted first, it was a natural decision to bowl first.

The bowling itself on the first day was pretty good. On occasions we may have bowled a little wide of off stump, but we made them struggle for runs. At lunch they had only scored 16 from 20 overs and at tea they had crawled to 95 for one from 56 overs. This low scoring reflected the good line and length that we bowled.

India's slow progress was crucial because, although we may not have been taking as many wickets as we would have liked, we always knew that a couple of breakthroughs would put them under tremendous pressure. In fact, that's exactly what happened in the final session, when we nipped out four wickets to end the first day well placed.

The second new ball was crucial and the bowling of Dilhara Fernando was exceptional. In a short space of time he has emphatically proved his potential. He has tightened his line without compromising on pace and is always going to be dangerous when he gets the ball in the right areas.

There is no doubt that his two wickets at the end of the first day were crucial and allowed us to spring into action on day two. Then, to get the prize wicket of Sourav Ganguly early on, with an absolute brute of a delivery, was a real bonus that paved the way for us dismissing them for 187, a total which we were confident of overhauling.

The batting was a tale of two halves. Runs flowed right from the start, as the Indian bowlers didn't help themselves by bowling two sides of the wicket. Crucially, Sanath Jayasuriya capitalised on that and made them pay dearly.

After the dismissal of Sanath the Indian bowlers started to bowl better and that made life harder for Kumar Sangakkara. He played and missed a few times at the start, but he worked really hard and grafted for his runs, clearly showing that he not only has the talent but also the temperament. It's a good sign when you see a player competing when he is not in the best of form and that's exactly what Kumar did.

Having built up a useful lead of 175, we were naturally confident, but also aware that India had comeback from an even worse situation against Australia and had gone on to win.

Murali though came into the game more that evening. During the first innings he played second fiddle, but in their second dig he used the conditions superbly and was a real handful. Wickets started to fall - seven in fact during the last session, as the pressure snowballed. When you build up such a strong momentum, it is very difficult to stop and I thought we were unlucky to wrap the game up that evening.

Kandy should also offer help to the fast bowlers. The Asgiriya square holds together well and there is some bounce. We will, however, have to have a good look at the wicket before we decide on the final side. Whatever that is though the key will be carrying on from where we left off in Galle by playing positive cricket.