England defeats Lanka by eight wickets in Colombo Test to safeguard its top ranking

Colombo, Apr 7(ANI): England will remain as World's number one Test team, as it beat Sri Lanka in the second Test match in Colombo by eight wickets.

England dismissed Sri Lanka on 278 in the second innings, with spinner Graeme Swann starring once again, snapping six wickets for 106 runs.

While chasing a modest total of 94, England had few early wobbles, as they lost captain Andrew Strauss and Jonathon Trott cheaply.

Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen batted sensibly to ensure there was no further twist in the tale for the visitors, as they clinched the match within 20 overs to square off the Test series at 1-1.

Pietersen was named man of the match for his knock of 151 whereas Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene was named as the Man of the Series, after scoring 354 runs at 88.50.

During the presentation ceremony, England skipper Strauss said: "Yeah, absolutely, it was amazing to have that support away from home."

"In the end it seemed like a comfortable victory but we had to work hard. Jimmy Anderson was superb on an unresponsive wicket, Graeme Swann was outstanding and Kevin Pietersen took the game away from them. At the top of the order it was all very stodgy, then Kevin came in and showed us how to play," he said.

Sri Lankan captain Jayawardene said at the end of the Test match: "We knew it was going to be tough coming into the second match and we think we made quite a few mistakes. Against a team of this quality and with their fans, it was going to be tough."

"This has been the largest following for an English touring side, so it's been good, I've enjoyed it. We needed to pick up three or four wickets up front but Alastair played very well and KP finished it off. It's disappointing. But thank you, from Sri Lanka, and we'll see you again," he added.(ANI)