There was little excitement worth the name through most of the contest, and the final day's play at the NCC ground on Sunday ended in semi-darkness as India batted on in the quest for more batting time. That said, there were enough reasons for the Indians to feel reasonably well prepared going into Wednesday's first Test.

Zaheer Khan had another useful workout on the final morning, going flat out, bending his back and testing the bounce in the surface, while Harbhajan Singh, also desperately needing a long bowl in a competitive environment, was no less impressive. Over the two innings, a majority of the top-order batsmen -- VVS Laxman was the sole exception -- spent middling to good batting time against an honest but hardly threatening Board XI attack. The pieces are slowly falling into place ahead of the real deal.

Skipper Anil Kumble chose to give himself the day off at the bowling crease, though he did make frequent appearances on the field. The 37-year-old is essentially a rhythm bowler, and 13 overs in the first innings convinced him that all was well with his bowling world. Consequently, the captain held himself back and gave his younger charges reasonably long bowls, and not even the 11 no-balls Zaheer sent down in the second innings would have stimulated the frown lines on his forehead.

Like Kumble, but for entirely different reasons, Dilhara Fernando too didn't have a bowl. The strapping paceman has a niggle in his left knee and is out of the first Test, a setback of sorts for the Lankans.

Gautam Gambhir helped himself to a fluent half-century in the second innings after the Indians had been set an impossible 276 for victory in the post tea sesson. The left-hander, happy to get another hit after throwing his hand away in the first innings, looked calm and assured, first alongside a compact Rahul Dravid and then with Sourav Ganguly.

For the record, after the Indians declared at their overnight total, the Board XI batted on either side of a 50-minute post-lunch delay triggered by sharp showers during the break to reach 247 for six when Jehan Mubarak called his troops in at tea. Chamara Silva made another fluent half-century, doing his Test prospects no harm at all, while Mubarak himself got off to a start but couldn't carry on.

India had reached 129 for two in their second innings when the game was mercifully called off, the last 20 minutes or so of batting truly meaningless in the context of both the match and the Test series ahead.

SRI LANKA BOARD XI (I Innings): 224 all out in 71.5 overs

INDIANS (I Innings): 196/8 decl in 49 overs

SRI LANKA BOARD XI (II Innings): Upul Tharanga c Kaarthick b Zaheer 5 (13m, 14b, 1x4), Mahela Udawatte c Harbhajan b Ishant 15 (38m, 23b, 3x4), Jehan Mubarak c Sehwag b Harbhajan 41 (83m, 48b, 5x4), Chamara Kapugedera lbw Munaf 22 (66m, 42b, 1x4, 1x6), Thilina Kandamby c Tendulkar b Harbhajan 27 (47m, 37b, 4x4),  Chamara Silva (not out) 59 (148m, 88b, 4x4, 1x6), Kaushal Silva (run out) 13 (42m, 36b), Dammika Prasad (not out) 43 (66m, 53b, 4x4, 1x6). Extras (LB-7, W-15) 22. Total (for 6 wkts decl, 55 overs) 247.

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Tharanga), 2-29 (Udawatte), 3-96 (Mubarak), 4-100 (Kapugedera), 5-139 (Kandamby), 6-173 (K Silva).

Bowling: Zaheer Khan 13-2-61-1 (nb-11), Ishant Sharma 9-1-36-1, Munaf Patel 9-1-33-1, Harbhajan Singh 16-4-53-2, Sourav Ganguly 1-0-12-0, Virender Sehwag 6-1-41-0, Gautam Gambhir 1-0-4-0.

INDIANS (II Innings): Virender Sehwag c Kapuedera b Prasad 14 (18m, 14b, 1x4), Gautam Gambhir (not out) 60 (141m, 82b, 6x4), Rahul Dravid b Herath 26 (75m, 47b, 3x4), Sourav Ganguly (not out) 22 (46m, 45b, 1x4). Extras (B-5, NB-2) 7. Total (for 2 wkts, 31 overs) 129.

Fall of wickets: 1-21 (Sehwag), 2-87 (Dravid).
Bowling: Sujeewa Silva 7-0-35-0 (nb-2), Dammika Prasad 6-1-28-1, Chamara Kapugedera 3-1-4-0, Seekkuge Prasanna 8-0-31-0, Rangana Herath 6-0-23-1, Jehan Mubarak 1-0-3-0.