Ton-up Sangakkara has series regrets

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara said he felt a strong sense of personal satisfaction after his first Test hundred in England helped the tourists to a battling draw here on Monday.

But Sangakkara, leading Sri Lanka in the absence of injured captain Tillakaratne Dilshan, also admitted to a strong sense of frustration after barely a couple of hours poor batting by his team in the first Test in Cardiff gave England the three-match series 1-0.

Sangakkara's 119 helped Sri Lanka make 334 for five in their second innings and they were 141 in front of England's first innings 377 for eight declared when rain, which blighted the entire series, poured down during the tea interval to force a premature end to the first Test staged at the Rose Bowl.

It was the 33-year-old left-hander's first hundred in nine Tests in England and came after he'd managed just 65 runs in five previous innings this series.

"It's very satisfying," Sangakkara told reporters. "To score a hundred, especially in England, is quite an achievement coming from the sub-continent. It would have been nice to have done it at Lord's (in the drawn second Test).

"But that's something you have to get over but it's nice to finally get there.

"When I first came to England I was a bit at sea and tried to make some adjustments but was not getting anywhere.

"So coming here again from the IPL (Indian Premier League) it was a case of adjusting again. Not just technically but also mentally. It took me a bit too long to do that."

Sri Lanka lost this series inside two hours in Cardiff after rain, which looked as if it would leave that match drawn, relented sufficiently for England to bowl the tourists out for a mere 82 in under 25 overs.

"That was probably the biggest regret on this tour. None of us were switched on to that situation really.

"We just needed to bat consistently for 25 or 30 overs -- just one pair to put on a proper partnership on a wicket that was flatter than this one.

"It just goes to show that one mistake, two mistakes, can magnify a situation that we should have been capable of handling nine times out of ten."

At the Rose Bowl, Sangakkara was well-supported in a fifth-wicket stand of 141 by Thilan Samaraweera, who finished on 87 not out.

"He's another player who would have loved to have got a hundred in England, but that's the way it goes. He still batted really well and helped the side through," Sangakkara said.

The draw gave England a fifth successive Test series win and home skipper Andrew Strauss was pleased his team had managed to beat the elements, as much as Sri Lanka.

"All three Test matches were affected by the weather and in all three Test matches time was running out in order to force a result," Strauss said.

In a way we're very satisfied that we were able to convert one of the three opportunities to force a result.

"Maybe there's a tinge of disappointment we weren't able to do more today but Sangakkara and Samaraweera played very well."

This result left England third in the ICC Test rankings ahead of their four-Test series at home to table-toppers India that starts next month.

"We'll take the series win -- it continues our momentum from the winter and leads us up into the India series in good cheer and in pretty good form," said Ashes-winning skipper Strauss.