Sri Lanka vs England, 2nd Test at Colombo, , Apr 03 2012 - Match Result

2.10pm: Time for the presentations. A statement from the Sri Lankan board, read out by Tony Greig, thanks the Barmy Army ... Obviously he's been looking at the figures.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene: "We knew it was going to be tough coming into the second match and we think we made quite a few mistakes. Against a team of this quality and with their fans, it was going to be tough. This has been the largest following for an English touring side, so it's been good, I've enjoyed it. We needed to pick up three or four wickets up front but Alastair played very well and KP finished it off. It's disappointing. But thank you, from Sri Lanka, and we'll see you again."

Kevin Pietersen is named Man of the Match: "Definitely, it's always nice to get some runs. It's been a tough winter for the batters but the hard work we've put in paid off, we deserve this one. The practice and hours you put in, when you're in some sort of nick you've got to try and get some runs ... and when it's 40-42, I can't block too many!"

Jayawardene is named as the Man of the Series, after scoring 354 runs at 88.50.

England captain Andrew Strauss: "Yeah, absolutely, it was was amazing to have that support away from home. In the end it seemed like a comfortable victory but we had to work hard. Jimmy Anderson was superb on an unresponsive wicket, Graeme Swann was outstanding and Kevin Pietersen took the game away from them. At the top of the order it was all very stodgy, then Kevin came in and showed us how to play. It was good to get a few runs, I would like to have got more but winning the match was the most important thing. Still No. 1 for a while yet."

That, folks, is it from Sri Lanka. Hands up who would have liked to see a decider? Well, write to your local MP. There's not even a one-day series to grumble about ice the cake. David Hopps' report is on the site and there'll be more from our man Andrew McGlashan later in the day, as well as Two Chucks, stats and more. Thanks for all your comments, it's been fun. Catch you on the flip side. Laters!

1.55pm: Victory by eight wickets squares the series at 1-1 and ensures that England retain their No. 1 status for a while longer. They haven't played like the best team in the world recently but that could be a significant win in their attempts to crack Asia. Excluding Bangladesh, that's only England's second Test victory on the subcontinent in the last 10 years. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, couldn't hang on and are denied a first series win since beating New Zealand in 2009. They've got their problems (hasn't everyone?) but there are certainly signs of encouragement for Mahela Jayawardene and his team.

Jayawardene has had a magnificent series from a batting point of view, though his captaincy was sometimes a little conservative. He got it spot on with that review against Trott earlier, though. Rangana Herath led the bowling well but he lacked support. For England, Graeme Swann, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and, of course, KP dusted off the cobwebs to pull England together after a ropey couple of months. Pietersen stamped his mark on this match with characteristic flair ... just in time for the IPL you might say, with a wink and a nudge.

Pietersen pulls up in Dilshan's delivery stride this time ...

Here's Malcolm, with an astute point: "Don't want to foul things up, but it looks like Bresnan's record of not playing in a losing Test match is secure." Not only not losing, Malcolm, but winning every one. Anyway, they're taking drinks in the middle. Strauss's dismissal seems a long while ago now, doesn't it?

I think, tentatively, I can rule out a collapse from here. There, I said it

Dilshan to come back on. Hope ebbing away for Sri Lanka, as well as the chances of a first series win since 2009 ...