Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, 2013-14

At Chittagong, February 4-8, 2014. Drawn. Toss: Sri Lanka.

Sangakkara reigned supreme on a Chittagong pitch that stayed slow and low for five days. But it was Bangladesh left-hander Mominul Haque who delivered the final word in the series, stroking an astute match-saving hundred on the last day that revealed much about his talent and temperament. The draw provided a minor flashpoint in an otherwise harmonious tour: each captain accused the other of not playing to win.

Both teams shuffled their attacks. Sri Lanka sustained two injuries during practice: their best fast bowler, Shaminda Eranga, damaged his quad muscle, and spinner Rangana Herath his knee, so Nuwan Pradeep Fernando and Ajantha Mendis replaced them. Bangladesh, meanwhile, opted to ditch two quick bowlers for spinners, leaving Al-Amin Hossain, in his third Test, as their only seam option.

Sangakkara arrived at the crease after 16 overs on the first morning, and was last out in the 157th. His mammoth score came on a flat pitch that offered neither appreciable turn, nor bounce, nor movement off the seam, but did produce some alarming low missiles, with the ball often shooting through at shin height. Concentration tends to be a feature of any long innings, but Sangakkara's focus was almost perfect.

His technique may not have had a thorough working-over, but he kept the freak balls out while none of his team-mates passed 72. He hit his runs at an even pace until he crossed 250, scoring heavily in front of square thanks to the tackiness of the surface. He was on 277 when the ninth wicket fell, at which point he began to farm the strike and attack in earnest. Shakib Al Hasan attempted to cramp him on his pads on 286, but Sangakkara advanced to crash him through midwicket, and then sped to his triple-hundred with sixes off the next two deliveries - over long-on and midwicket - before celebrating in oddly subdued fashion. In all he hit 32 fours and eight sixes from 482 balls, and batted for nine hours 11 minutes. It was the first triple century conceded by Bangladesh, and the highest first-class score on Bangladeshi soil, beating Raqibul Hasan's 313 not out for Barisal against Sylhet at Fatullah in 2006-07.

Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes replied with busy maiden hundreds, unearthing the resolve the Bangladeshis had lacked in Mirpur. They added 232, a national record for the second wicket, and Shakib and Nasir Hossain helped Bangladesh to 426, a deficit of 161. Sri Lanka expanded their lead quickly on day four as Sangakkara breezed to another hundred - only the second batsman to score a triple and single century in any first-class match, after Graham Gooch for England against India at Lord's in 1990. He now had 35 Test hundreds, of which seven had come against Bangladesh (and 29 in Asia). Mathews delayed the declaration to allow an out-of-sorts Chandimal to complete a century of his own, giving his attack only eight overs on the fourth evening.

Sri Lanka had a mountain of runs to play with but, by staying positive outside off stump, Mominul forced them to set defensive fields while batting through a crucial afternoon session. This eased not only his own survival, but the progress of his partners. He and Shakib had added 120 when Mominul took the single that carried him to his third Test hundred in only his 13th innings. With Bangladesh three down, and less than an hour to play, Mathews called it a day.

He later criticised Bangladesh for declining to pursue a target of 467 - though that would have been the highest successful chase in Test cricket's 137-year history. Rather more convincingly, Mushfiqur Rahim responded that Sri Lanka should have declared earlier if they had been truly intent on victory.
Man of the Match: K. C. Sangakkara. Man of the Series: K. C. Sangakkara.