With 719 runs scored and just four wickets taken in two days of cricket in Colombo, one is forced to ponder the prospect of three days of cricket that could essentially be pointless.

Such was the exquisite nature with which the Sri Lankan batsmen dispatched the Indian bowlers it became clear on day two that there was likely to be only one winner in this contest, with the hosts' total of 642 for six declared signaling that they certainly wouldn't be on the wrong end of the result.

But it was not only the Sri Lankans that impressed with the bat; Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay looked unperturbed at the top of the order as they made the most of the 18 overs they had to negotiate in the evening session, finishing the day on 95 without loss.

It was only the short ball that troubled the opening pair, with both Vijay and Sehwag at times fending the ball way dangerously, but crucially never near enough to a waiting fielder.

Earlier, Kumar Sangakkara had begun the day in scintillating fashion, cracking the first delivery of the day to the long off fence before flicking the following ball to the midwicket boundary. The skipper brought up his 150 in a manner befitting his knock - with three consecutive boundaries.

A double-ton was always on the cards and Sangakkara obliged, scoring his seventh double in 304 balls. The left-hander must have been dreaming of a triple, and he certainly looked on course before edging a Virender Sehwag delivery to Rahul Dravid at slip.

Not to be outdone by his captain's performance, Mahela Jayawardene constructed a lovely knock of 174, picking up from where Sangakkara left off, ensuring that no respite was ever offered to the Indian bowlers.

MS Dhoni's men toiled manfully for the majority of the day but on a pitch that offered them no assistance they were unable to manufacture anything. The defensive field Dhoni adopted allowed the batsmen to pick up singles at will but despite the presence of boundary riders, the Sri Lankans managed to find the fence with great regularity

Kingpin Harbhajan Singh continued an unimpressive series, adopting a line well outside leg stump that rarely troubled the batsman. However, in the end it was Harbhajan that brought the Sri Lankan innings to an end with the wicket of Jayawardene.

In the sapping heat, the right-hander began to take strain after tea as Sri Lanka started to waste valuable overs that should have been spent trying to remove the Indian openers. Jayawardene could barely run let alone summon the energy to heave the Indian attack out the park. His beautiful knock ended in meek fashion, as he turned one to short midwicket to hand Harbhajan his first wicket of the tour.

Delivery of the Day
One wouldn't expect Virender Sehwag to be the leading light amongst the bowlers, but the spinner did well to get one to turn and bounce away from Sangakkara, picking up the batsman's edge on its way into Rahul Dravid's hands.

Shot of the Day
Standing outside of his crease Kumar Sangakkara leaned into the first delivery of the day and beautifully cracked it wide of mid off, setting the tone for the rest of the day.

Defining Moment of the Day
The wickets that never happened.

Julia Harris