Sri Lanka finally land the knockout punch

It finished how it had started six weeks ago in Dambulla. The first two tests might have been edgy and attritional but the last test was gloriously emphatic. Sri Lanka produced their best performance since the Asia Test Championship in March 2002 as they overwhelmed England by an innings and 215 runs - a whopping hammering by anyone's standards.

Michael Vaughan, England's skipper, held his hand up afterwards and admitted that his team had been fairly and soundly trounced. "Sri Lanka applied pressure on us for almost every day of the series. We fought hard but there are only so many punches you can take. Today was the knockout." The analogy was apt for Sri Lanka had jabbed away at their opponents all tour, wearing them down slowly but surely. Finally, after two days in the field in the baking sun in Colombo followed by sleepless nights as the Taj Samudra hotel threw noisy late night parties, they dropped their defences. Sri Lanka took aim and finally landed a killer punch.

Not surprisingly it was Murali that was responsible for the bulk of the carnage in the second innings, as England were skittled for 148, their lowest total against Sri Lanka. His 4 for 64 extended his series tally to 26 and justly earned him the man of the series award. His was a truly exceptional performance. We are used to his brilliance, but this was in a different league. England arrived confident of handling him; they left flabbergasted by his wrong'un.

Duncan Fletcher, England's coach, said simply: "He creates mystery whenever he comes on and the other bowlers feed off that mystery." Vaughan was glad to see the back of him: "The one thing about the West Indies is that they don't have a Murali...that will make a difference."

England, lulled into a false sense of security by his injuries before the series in 2001 (groin) and 2002 (shoulder), were surprised by the quick pace with which he bowled and, particularly, by the amount he turned his wrong' un. Many pundits have referred to it as a new delivery, but Murali has been bowling it for years. Now though it's been perfected and it makes him a very dangerous bowler.

But Murali was not the only star on that final one-sided day. Dilhara Fernando, back in the side after recovering from a back injury, provided the attack with that extra cutting edge. He was not express in pace because of a side injury that required an injection, but he was nevertheless potent: Vaughan was deceived by a slower ball, Ashley Giles had his stumps rearranged by a reverse swinging Yorker and Andrew Flintoff was surprised by some extra bounce. For the first time in the series Chaminda Vaas had a proper seam bowling partner.

Perhaps with hindsight - to be fair to Hashan Tillakaratne he had apparently championed Dilhara's cause in Kandy only to be overruled - he should have played in Galle and Kandy too, although Dinusha Fernando did score a priceless fifty in the second test.

The bowlers killed England off but it was the batters that drained their resolve. At times it wasn't pretty but it was nevertheless mighty impressive. Sanath Jayasuriya provided an entertaining start, batting with fresh vigour after two tentative Test matches, to set the stage for Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene, who piled up a massive 262 in 543 balls for the third wicket.

Samaraweera was picked for the series as a specialist batsman, but lurking down at number six and seven he'd struggled to make an impression. A rare chance though at number three, as Marvan Atapattu nursed his injured hand, was snapped up. Samaraweera is a man that likes to control his own destiny. He's not supremely talented but he makes up for that with sheer bloody-mindedness. He was fortunate to be dropped on 12, 46 and 98, and all three Test tons have been scored on the pancake flat SSC pitch, but he now deserves a proper run in the side.

The performances of Jayawardene and Dilshan were also of great significance to a team that had suffered from middle order jitters for the best part of 18 months. Jayawardene's slump was most pronounced in the one-day game, but he had still failed to knit together a really substantial Test score since his hundred against England at Lord's in May 2002. Talk of him being dropped from the Test team though was quite frankly absurd. He started cautiously a doggedly in Galle with a grinding second innings knock and improved with each innings he played to become Sri Lanka's highest scorer in the series. The team looks so much healthier with him on song.

Dilshan's second coming was a revelation and a true bonus. After 2 ½ years out of the team he bounced back with two fifties and one superb century that nearly set-up and Sri Lanka win in the hill-country. His positive and attacking intent - some of the credit for which must go to the coach who gave him free licence to play his shots - forced England onto the back foot and played a major part in the series win.

Thus, despite Sri Lanka's disappointingly negative approach in Kandy, where they refused to take the game by the scruff of the neck, Sri Lanka finished the series in very good shape. You can sense some of the old confidence returning. The Aussies had better be on guard because their Feb/Mar tour is now going to be very tough indeed.