The Sri Lankan cricket team’s perseverance during demanding situations throughout the three Test series against India went a long way in enabling them to win the series 2-1, Sri Lanka’s captain Mahela Jayawardene told journalists yesterday. The series that was expected to be a close contest was completely dominated by the hosts as they handed India their third worst Test defeat by an innings and 239 runs at the SSC and then sealed the series by winning the decider by eight wickets. India had squared the series earlier by winning the second Test in Galle by 170 runs.

"It was a very hard series. We showed a lot of character after the Galle Test. We kept the standards high and kept pushing and never gave up. I thought the difference was that. Whenever we were in a tough situation we needed someone to do the job and someone put up the hand and did it for us. That’s the most pleasing thing," the Sri Lankan captain who led by example scoring the most runs in the series for his side (279 in six innings at 69.75) said.

"I am very satisfied. The credit should go to the bowling unit. At the beginning of the series, we knew what a tough challenge it was going to be. I said that numbers can be there, but you needed to work hard. But I thought the bowlers did a fantastic job."

A deciding factor in the series was the ability of the Sri Lankan bowlers to keep India’s formidable middle order quiet. Known as the fabulous four, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and V.V.S. Laxman managed just three fifties among the four of them in 24 innings. Tendulkar and Ganguly weren’t able to score a single half-century and managed less than 100 runs each in the series. Jayawardene admitted that their failure to contribute with big scores went a long way in sealing the series in Sri Lanka’s favour.

"We knew Sachin was a big factor in their line up. They bank a lot on him. Then they have guys like Rahul and Sourav and we knew that we had to target them as their nucleus were there. Those three guys are the ones who can play big knocks and take a game away from you."

"We had a lot of discussions on how to do that and we attacked from day one and executed the game plan well. That made the difference. When you need to beat a team like this, you have to identify individuals and target them; I think we did that pretty well," the Sri Lankan captain added.

Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis came into the series with little exposure, but did enough to create worries in the Indian minds after his match winning spell in the Asia Cup final. He had a ball picking up 26 wickets in three Tests at 18.38 and while breaking many records, created a World Record as well when he overtook Sir Alec Bedser’s record for most number of wickets in a three-Test series that had stood since 1946.

"Ajantha is very quiet and it’s very difficult to get anything out of him. The only time he’s very bubbly is when you ask him to come and bowl. I think he has fitted into the dressing room very well. He has blended nicely with everyone and is a quiet sort of bloke. He’s got a very good role model in Murali, who is very humble in all his achievements. If he can follow him, Sri Lanka cricket is in good hands," Jayawardene said shedding light on the mystery man who was Man of the Match in the series.

All three Tests ended inside four days and Jayawardene was asked whether the referrals system that was in place had been a contributory factor for the early finishes. He admitted that it had played a part, but was quick to add that the quality of the bowling of both sides had forced an early end more than anything else.

"Referrals probably played a part. There were lot of quality cricketers in both these sides. I think the bowlers controlled the series. You should put it down to that," he said.