COLOMBO: India spoiled Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell party with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowling the visitors to a series-leveling 278-run victory in the second Test on Monday.

Ashwin (5-42) and his spin colleague Amit Mishra (3-29) ran through the Sri Lankan batting order as the hosts, chasing 413 for an improbable victory, collapsed to 134 all out in their second innings.

Resuming on 72-2, Sri Lanka lost skipper Angelo Mathews to the first ball of the day, a setback that completely unhinged them and they collapsed soon after to give Virat Kohli his first Test victory as India captain.

“A commendable effort by the boys, coming together nicely after that kind of loss (at Galle), regrouping very quickly and putting a performance like this,” Kohli said after the victory.

“We were pumped up to get wickets and we got a perfect start. From there on, the bowlers realized it’s time to squeeze in now and build up some really good pressure,” he added.

Sri Lanka’s day begun in the worst possible fashion when India paceman Umesh Yadav struck with the first ball of the morning, which Mathews (23) edged for stand-in wicketkeeper Lokesh Rahul to take a diving, one-handed catch.

Rahul was keeping in place of regular India stumper Wriddhiman Saha, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a hamstring injury.

Mishra struck the next blow, pulling off a classical leg-spinner’s dismissal by bowling Dinesh Chandimal around his legs.

Ashwin and Mishra maintained relentless pressure on the hosts to reduce them to 130-9 when rain brought a premature lunch, but the relief proved short lived as the hosts folded soon after the break.

“We did not play our best cricket,” Mathews rued at the presentation ceremony.

“More disappointing is we could not do it for Sanga, who deserved to leave the field with a high and a win. We promise him we will play our best in the next game and win it for him.”

Rahul, who struck a century in the first innings, was adjudged man of the match.

Ashwin has been equally impressive and with 17 wickets from the first two tests, he is likely to trouble Sri Lanka again in the third and final test in Colombo starting on Friday.

Sangakkara, who made 32 and 18 in his 134th and final test, was given a rousing reception with the Indians shaking hands with him and the former captain being hoisted by his teammates for a round of the stadium as the crowd gave a standing ovation.

Turns emotional

During the formal sendoff, the 37-year-old broke down as he thanked his parents for standing by him during his 15 years of cricket.

“All the support and love they showed over the years, whether I played cricket or not, whether I did well or not, the only place I could go and feel safe was home. So thank you ‘amma’ (mother) and ‘apachchi’ (father),” Sangakkara said, fighting back tears, as fans cheered and clapped.

He also praised Indian captain Virat Kohli and his team for their tough opposition during his farewell match which Sri Lanka lost by 278 runs on Monday, allowing the tourists to level 1-1 in the series.

“Thank you for not giving any quarter,” he told the Indian team.

“And thank you for really making it a privilege of mine to play against you,” he said.

Sangakkara, the fifth highest run-getter in Test history, finished with 12,400 runs from 134 Tests at an average of 57.40. He scored 38 centuries, including a best of 319 against Bangladesh in Chittagong last year.

He follows Sachin Tendulkar of India, Ricky Ponting of Australia, Jacques Kallis of South Africa and Rahul Dravid of India in the all-time list of leading Test scorers.

ICC chief executive David Richardson paid tribute to Sangakkara as “one of cricket’s greatest ever players and ambassadors.”

“By scoring a total of 28,016 runs across all three formats, he puts himself in the higher echelons of players to ever grace the game.

“Sangakkara will rightly go down as one of cricket’s greatest-ever players and ambassadors,” Richardson said in an ICC statement.

SCOREBOARD

India (first innings): 393

Sri Lanka (first innings): 306

India (second innings): 325-8 decl.

Sri Lanka (second innings):

K. Silva c Binny b Ashwin 1

D. Karunaratne b Ashwin 46

K. Sangakkara c Vijay b Ashwin 18

A. Mathews c Rahul b Yadav 23

D. Chandimal b Mishra 15

L. Thirimanne c sub (Pujara) b Ashwin 11

J. Mubarak c Kohli b I. Sharma 0

D. Prasad c Mishra b Ashwin 0

R. Herath not out 4

T. Kaushal lbw Mishra 5

D. Chameera lbw Mishra 4

Extras: 7

Total: 134

Fall of wkts: 1-8, 2-33, 3-72, 4-91, 5-106, 6-111, 7-114, 8-123, 9-128, 10-134.

Bowling: Ashwin 16-6-42-5, Yadav 7-1-18-1, I. Sharma 11-2-41-1 (nb2, w1), Mishra 9.4-3-29-3.