2nd Test: India crush Sri Lanka to win 15th consecutive home Test series

Dominant India put Sri Lanka out of their misery in 3 days again to wrap up series 2-0; Karunaratne's brave ton goes in vainBENGALURU: An improbable target of 447, nine wickets in hand and pride at stake. It was a question of how long Sri Lanka could hold off a resurgent India. In the final innings of what has been a forgettable tour for the Islanders, they put up their best show, which helped them reduce the margin of defeat. At the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Monday, the home team had to put the champagne on ice for a while as skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (107; 174b, 15x4) and Kusal Mendis (54; 60b, 8x4) decided not just to grind it out but also take on the Indian bowling attack led by the inform Jasprit Bumrah (3/23). SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENEDWith 35 minutes remaining for the dinner break on Day 3, spin ace R Ashwin's (4/55) tossed-up delivery to Vishwa Fernando was top-edged to Mohammed Shami, who collected the catch at mid-off, signalling India's 238-run victory and a 2-0 series triumph. The win marked Rohit Sharma's first series win as Test skipper and head coach Rahul Dravid's second series win at home in the longer format. The series turned out to be a six-day affair as both matches ended on the third day. This was also the Indian men's 15th consecutive Test series victory at home.

Having lost out on eight ICC Championship points in the 0-1 loss to South Africa earlier this year, India regained ground with 24 points coming from the two-match series. This helped them climb to the fourth spot on the championship table. Also, India finished the home season unconquered in four Tests, three ODIs and nine T20s. In the afternoon, it was Karunaratne and Mendis' turn to entertain the sizeable crowd. The 97-run