Sri Lanka v England, 2011-12

In the last game of a chastening winter, England finally demonstrated they were capable of winning a Test in Asia. Not before time, their batsmen gave proper support to the valiant band of bowlers who had sweated buckets from Dubai to Galle via Abu Dhabi without reward. England romped to victory by eight wickets, having won by seven on their previous visit to the cosy Saravanamuttu stadium for Sri Lanka's inaugural Test 30 years earlier. And they clung to their No. 1 ranking, just ahead of South Africa.

It all seemed so simple again. Anderson was incisive with the new ball, Swann gradually asserted himself on a slow, turning pitch and, in unrelenting heat, the commitment in the field never wavered. That had been the pattern of the winter. But now the batsmen also functioned according to the textbook. Cook and Strauss blunted a modest Sri Lankan attack with the help of Trott. Then Pietersen, suddenly free as a bird, shredded the bowlers in an audacious innings of 151 from 165 balls - England's highest Test score in Sri Lanka.

This was the Pietersen of old, before the burden of captaincy and the disappointment of losing it. He trusted his instincts, and the ball kept disappearing over the short boundaries. He also unfurled his switch hit, causing delight and controversy in equal measure. Despite yet more Herculean efforts from Mahela Jayawardene - though there is not a rippling muscle to be seen upon him - England ended up as comfortable victors. If there had been a third and decisive Test, there was a good chance they would have prevailed, but the impending IPL denied them that luxury. Within three days, Jayawardene and Pietersen were Delhi Daredevils team-mates.

Before the match, Strauss in particular was unusually edgy. He gave what, by his standards, was a brusque press conference, in which - despite many invitations - he declined to speculate on his future. For the first time since he took over from Pietersen in January 2009, there had been rumblings about his hold on the England captaincy, not merely because of the sequence of four defeats, but also because of his own lack of runs. Strauss also had some ticklish selections to make. With Stuart Broad now back home because of a calf injury, Finn returned for his first Test in ten.

More surprisingly, Bresnan replaced Monty Panesar, so ending England's experiment of playing two specialist spinners. Perhaps Strauss was swayed more by the stats than the conditions: in seven Tests together, Swann and Panesar had never experienced victory, while Bresnan could boast wins in all ten previous Test appearances. By mid-afternoon on the fifth day, it was 11 out of 11.

Losing the toss was no great hindrance for Strauss, since Anderson snatched three early wickets, including Sangakkara, out first ball again. Jayawardene, as ever, rescued the situation with another watchful, elegant century, and received dutiful support from Samaraweera and Mathews, back from injury in place of Dinesh Chandimal. Yet when Sri Lanka were all out for 275 before lunch on the second day, England had their chance.

The upper order duly dug in. Their use of the sweep shot was much more sparing and adroit than at Galle, so much so that neither opener dusted off the stroke until the 39th over. Strauss's 61 stopped some of the rumblings, while Cook and Trott gave a reminder of the rewards of self-denial. Then came Pietersen, who would later be almost at a loss to explain such a spectacular return to form (his Test output over the winter had been far worse than his captain's). "When I'm in nick, I like to play like that," he said. "I've never been able to explain how I do it. It's just instinct. If the ball is there to hit, I hit it."

Sometimes Pietersen smashed balls that were not there to hit. Straight sixes peppered the boxes of the VIPs, and he could not resist employing his trademark switch hit, which led to an unexpected warning from umpire Asad Rauf. Three times in an over Dilshan, bowling offbreaks from round the wicket to a seven-two leg-side field, declined to release the ball because Pietersen - who began the over on 86 and finished it on 104 - was busy changing into a left-hander. On the third occasion, Pietersen received his warning; another would have added five penalty runs to Sri Lanka's score.

In a rare but justifiable interpretation of the Laws, Pietersen was deemed to be time wasting because he was causing the impasse that prevented the ball from being delivered. Dilshan was quite entitled to refrain from bowling once he saw Pietersen moving. The only question was whether Pietersen had begun to do so before Dilshan had entered his delivery stride; even with the benefit of replays, it was hard to say.

Whatever the precise sequence of events, the brief stand-off was in danger of overshadowing the fact that Pietersen's century separated the teams. This was his 20th in Tests, and his 29th in all international matches, taking him past Graham Gooch's England record; now the batting coach, Gooch was watching with rare contentment from the pavilion.

England's lead of 185 was sufficient. Sri Lanka, who had sent in nightwatchman Prasad to face one over on the third evening, reached a healthy 215 for four on the fourth before Swann snatched two wickets in the penultimate over. They closed with a lead of only 33. Swann would finish with six wickets in the innings - including the prize scalp of Mahela Jayawardene on the final morning - and, for the second time, ten in the match. He also moved past Tony Lock (174 wickets) to become England's third-most-productive Test spinner, finishing the series with 182: only Derek Underwood (297) and Jim Laker (193) remained above him. Curiously, Swann appeared to bowl better without having Panesar at the other end.

England needed 94 to win and - despite the early loss of Strauss for a duck and Trott for five - they did not hang around. Pietersen wrapped things up with 42 from 28 balls and his eighth six of the match, a mighty blow over square leg off his sparring partner Dilshan. It was a gem of a knock, bringing delight both to the England team and Delhi, who were eagerly awaiting his arrival in India.

Man of the Match: K. P. Pietersen. Man of the Series: D. P. M. D. Jayawardene.

Close of play: first day, Sri Lanka 238-6 (Mathews 41, Randiv 5); second day, England 154-1 (Cook 77, Trott 15); third day, Sri Lanka 4-0 (Prasad 0, Thirimanne 0); fourth day, Sri Lanka 218-6 (D. P. M. D. Jayawardene 55, Mathews 3).