Few would have bet on India winning their maiden one-day series in Sri Lanka with a game in hand, especially after they were thrashed twice in a row, first in the Asia Cup final in Pakistan and then in the opening game of this series, with their bogeyman from the Test series, Ajantha Mendis, being the tormentor on both occasions.

The difference lay in the abilities of the two batting orders to adapt. While the Indian batsmen huffed and puffed to victory in the second ODI before adjusting to post defendable totals in Colombo, their Sri Lankan counterparts repeatedly failed to cope with India’s three-pronged pace attack backed up by Harbhajan Singh. The success of India’s bowlers, and Sri Lanka’s collective batting failure, makes the final a dead rubber.