© AFP

With the series levelled at 1-1 after India bounced back to win the Kandy Test, the final Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club Grounds was the decider. Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that looked good for batting. SS Das (59) and Sadagoppan Ramesh (46) put together 97 runs for the first wicket. The partnership was broken by Muttiah Muralitharan who went on to claim eight wickets, giving away 87 runs. Rahul Dravid (36) and Hemang Badani (38) were the only players to get a start, others failed miserably. India were bowled out for 234 off 81.1 overs. Muralitharan was the toast of the day, when the Indian batting collapsed like a house of cards!