Sri Lanka v England

At Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo, December 18, 19, 20, 21, 2003. Sri Lanka won by an innings and 215 runs. Toss: England.

England arrived in Colombo full of optimism. They left dazed and confused, having suffered their third-heaviest defeat in 127 years of Test cricket and their first series loss under Vaughan's captaincy. After the energy-sapping escape acts of the first two Tests, they played with as much edge as a lump of plasticine.

For Sri Lanka - and not least for their captain, Tillekeratne, whose conservative brand of leadership had roused the critics - it was a delightful surprise. After failing to beat anyone but Bangladesh since March 2002, they pulled off the most crushing win in their history. To beat England in a proper series for the first time was merely a bonus.

There was little sign of the grim fate that awaited Vaughan's men when he won England's first toss in Sri Lanka for ten years, then helped bring up a freewheeling fifty in only the ninth over. In the pre-match build-up, the Sri Lanka coach, John Dyson, had accused England of rekindling a duller, more defensive era of Test cricket. But for the first hour at least, that accusation seemed absurd.

Then it all went wrong. Vaughan nicked a leg-break, and Trescothick, who had crashed 11 fours in a 39-ball half-century, edged the last ball before lunch to slip. Less than an hour later, on a pitch that should have reduced the bowlers to tears, England were an eye-watering 139 for five: Butcher thin-edged Dilhara Fernando, who had replaced his namesake Dinusha; Hussain, who had been lucky to squeeze Collingwood out of the team, was less fortunate when Vaas won a dubious lbw decision; and Thorpe misread Muralitharan's doosra.

Outside the ground there was chaos too, as police prevented a group of Buddhist monks from storming the stadium. The monks were furious that the cricket had not been halted out of respect for a well-known colleague, the Venerable Gangodavila Soma Thera, who had died the previous week. Deprived of spiritual assistance, England had to make do with Flintoff and Batty, who now embarked on a damage-limitation stand of 87.

Flintoff, averaging less than seven in Asia, dealt patiently with the impossibly economical Muralitharan but showed scant regard for the rest. He mowed Chandana over mid-wicket, reached his half-century with a flick-pull off Vaas for six more, then launched Chandana down the ground for a third. But in the same over, the otherwise patient Batty pulled a long-hop straight to mid-wicket, where Atapattu held on, splitting the webbing in his left hand in the process. After Flintoff gave Muralitharan a simple return catch to depart for a 109-ball 77 containing four sixes and ten fours, resistance was minimal. When Vaas wrapped up the tail on the second morning, the last five wickets had fallen for 39.

England's 265 was quickly put into perspective. Jayasuriya and Sangakkara waltzed to fifty, and although Sangakkara edged Kirtley to slip soon afterwards, it proved an illusory breakthrough. Jayasuriya, back to his swashbuckling best, added 67 with Samaraweera before edging a full-length delivery from Flintoff to Trescothick at slip. But English heads were already drooping. Two overs earlier, Trescothick had missed Samaraweera on 12. And as England's limited attack toiled in the afternoon heat, he did it again, this time on 46. After two days, Sri Lanka trailed by a single run, and Samaraweera and Jayawardene were doing as they pleased.

Even the night-time provided no respite. The hotel management allowed a noisy party to go on till the early hours, infuriating the England players, and on the third morning they duly fielded like insomniacs. Giles dropped Jayawardene at fine leg on 74, before Trescothick completed a hat-trick of slip fumbles off Samaraweera, then on 98. The fluent Jayawardene had just completed his tenth Test hundred, from 206 balls, and two overs later Samaraweera registered his third - all three at the SSC - from 345. By the time Jayawardene pulled the deserving Flintoff to deep square leg, the pair had added 262. Dilshan and Chandana then danced on English graves with a lighthearted stand of 126.

The declaration came at 628 for eight, Sri Lanka's second-highest Test score, which left England needing 363 to avoid an innings defeat - or five and a half sessions to survive. They held out for just over two. Trescothick steered Vaas's sixth ball to point, Vaughan mistimed Fernando to cover, and when Hussain was given out caught behind to make it 44 for three, Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 100 wickets at a single Test venue.

The rest followed like lost sheep. Thorpe (on the charge) and Batty (the victim of a marginal call by the third umpire) were stumped off successive balls from Muralitharan, who would have had a hat-trick had Flintoff 's inside edge not cannoned off his pad over the head of silly point. But it was merely delaying the inevitable, and when Kirtley was bowled through the gate to give Muralitharan his 26th wicket of the series, Sri Lanka were home and dry with more than a day to spare. It was no more than they deserved.

Man of the Match: T. T. Samaraweera.
Man of the Series: M. Muralitharan.

Close of play: First day, England 259-8 (Read 13, Kirtley 1); Second day, Sri Lanka 264-2 (Samaraweera 68, Jayawardene 60);
Third day, Sri Lanka 563-5 (Dilshan 72, Chandana 54).