COLOMBO: Muttiah Mural- itharan spun a web of magic for a match haul of 11 wickets to send a spineless India crashing to a humiliating innings and 239 run defeat against Sri Lanka in the first cricket Test in Colombo.The wily Muralitharan gave ample display of his guiles by capturing five wickets in the first innings and claiming a phenomenal six for 26 to bundle out the Indians for a paltry 138 in the second innings to steer his team to their biggest win at home.

The 36-year-old Murali found an able ally in 'mystery' spinner Ajantha Mendis who also made an impressive debut with a match haul of eight wickets to disintegrate the visitors with one full day to spare.It was an abject surrender by India's star-studded batting line-up which first failed to avoid follow-on, being dismissed for 223 in reply to Lanka's 600 for 6 declared, and then were skittled out for 138 in the second innings in just 45 overs at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground.

This was India's third heaviest Test defeat. Earlier, West Indies beat India by an innings and 336 runs at Kolkata in 1958, while England thumped them by an innings and 285 runs at Lord's in 1974.Only opener Gautam Gambhir (43) provided a semblance of resistance but none of the other Indian batsmen could counter the spin threat to allow the islanders to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.Although the SSC track had not deteriorated too much, the Indians showed a complete lack of application and seemed to have learnt little from their first innings debacle.