Sri Lanka suffered their worst Test defeat against India and their fifth overall in Test cricket, when India beat them by an innings and 144 runs with a day to spare here at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, to complete their 100th Test win yesterday.

India’s previous biggest win against Sri Lanka was the innings and 119 run win they recorded in 1994 in Lucknow.

After posting a massive 642 all out in the first innings, the Indians bowled out the tourists for 229 runs in the first innings and enforced the follow-on.

Things went from bad to worse for the Sri Lankans in the second innings when they lost four wickets for 54 runs, including the crucialwickets of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara on day three.

The writing was on the wall for the Sri Lankans when they began day four with their backs to the wall on 57 for four, but Thilan Samaraweera, along with the lower middle order showed some character and proved to the top order that with more commitment they could have either drawn the Test or at least taken it to the last day.

This was Sri Lanka’s first bad performance with the bat in a while as they had shown excellent form in Test cricket in the last three years, which saw them being elevated to the number two rank in Test cricket.

The wicket yesterday didn’t deteriorate as much as was expected and India’s bowlers failed to create enough opportunities, but Sri Lanka having already conceded control of the game to the hosts, only could delay the inevitable.

Angelo Mathews cracked three successive boundaries off the second over of the morning bowled by Zaheer Khan, but in the same over was dismissed when he pulled too early and Rahul Dravid moving in from gully took the catch.

Samaraweera with Prasanna Jayawardene (29), added 61 runs for the sixth wicket and Harbhajan Singh made the breakthrough when he bowled the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper through bat and pad coming round the wicket.

Soon Harbhajan also dismissed Rangana Herath (13), but was punished by Muttiah Muralitharan, who hit him for 14 runs in that over.

He raced to 29 in just 11 deliveries with three boundaries and two sixes before another expansive shot off left-arm-spinner Prgahyan Ojha dismissed him.

Ajantha Mendis showed a lot of promise with the bat as he stayed around for 75 minutes, adding 73 runs for the ninth wicket with Samaraweera, the best partnership of the Sri Lankan innings.

The pair frustrated the Indian bowlers for more than an hour after lunch before the part-time spin of Yuvraj Singh accounted for Mendis. He made 27 and hit three boundaries.

Ojha picked up last man Chanaka Welagedara when he offered a return catch and Samaraweera was left stranded. He was not out on 78, having batted for three and a half hours.

The Sri Lankan spinners’ inability to create enough pressure against the Indian batsmen was a worry during the game. Rangana Herath did well to pick up five wickets on day two after failing to pick up a wicket on the first day. However, the three spin bowlers - Herath, Muralitharan andMendis - were able to bowl just five maiden overs, despite bowling 109 overs between the three of them.

The Sri Lankans lacked intent when they were forced to make 442 to avoid the follow-on and after being forced to follow-on, cracked under pressure to lose inside four days.

Tharanga Paranavitana lbw b Sehwag 20

Tillakaratne Dilshan c Dhoni b Sreesanth 11

Kumar Sangakkara b Harbhajan Singh 11

Mahela Jayawardene run out 10

Thilan Samaraweera not out 78

Angelo Mathews c Dravid b Khan 15

Prasanna Jayawardene b Harbhajan Singh 29

Rangana Herath lbw b Harbhajan Singh 13

Muttiah Muralitharan b Ojha 29

Ajantha Mendis lbw b Yuvraj Singh 27

Chanaka Welegedara c and b Ojha 4

Extras: (7b, 1lb, 14nb) 22

Overs: 65.3

Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-37, 3-54, 4-54, 5-79, 6-140, 7-154, 8-191, 9-264, 10-269

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 11-0-63-1 (13nb), Shanthakumaran Sreesanth 11-4-47-1 (1nb), Harbhajan Singh 22-2-98-3, Virender Sehwag 3-0-4-1,Pragyan Ojha 15.3-4-36-2, Sachin Tendulkar 1-0-6-0, Yuvraj Singh 2-0-7-1

Result: India wins by an innings and 144 runs

Series: India leads 1-0 in three-Test series

Toss: India

Umpires: Tony Hill, New Zealand, and Nigel Llong, England

TV umpire: Sanjay Hazare, India.

Match referee: Jeff Crowe, New Zealand

South Africa inns & 229 runs Cape Town 2001

South Africa inns & 208 runs SSC 1993

Pakistan inns & 175 runs Dhaka 1999

Pakistan inns & 163 runs Galle 2000

India inns & 144 runs Kanpur 2009

India inns & 119 runs Lucknow 1994

England inns & 111 runs Birmingham 2002

Australia inns & 108 runs Perth 1988

India inns & 106 runs Nagpur 1986

Pakistan inns & 102 runs Lahore 1982