An unbeaten double-century courtesy of Dinesh Chandimal and a 12-wicket debut from off-spinner Prabath Jayasuriya has propelled Sri Lanka to an innings and 39-run demolition of Australia in the second and final Test in Galle.
It marked Australia’s first defeat by an innings since South Africa beat them by an innings and 80 runs in Hobart in 2016.
The visitors did, however, retain the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy after a successful opening Test three years after regaining it at home.
The Australians got off to a strong start on Day 1 after winning the toss with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith each reaching triple figures before the tail failed to wag.
They were bowled out for 364 with 249 of those runs courtesy of Labuschagne and Smith.
Wicket-keeper Alex Carey was the only one of Australia’s final six batters to reach double-figures.
Jayasuriya finished with figures of 6-for-118 in his debut Test innings, whilst Kasun Rajitha managed a pair of his own wickets.
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Mitchell Starc claimed the wicket of Pathum Nissanka early before skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis put on a 152-run second-wicket partnership to lay a tremendous platform for the hosts.
Both fell in the mid-80s before Angelo Matthews and Kamindu Mendis managed half-centuries of their own.
It was Player of the Series Dinesh Chandimal, however, who stole the show finishing on an unbeaten 206 from 326 balls in the best innings of his Test career.
The 32-year-old hit 16 fours and five sixes as a demoralised Australian attack struggled to make any impression on him.
He eventually ran out of partners as the tail was cleaned up; Starc took four wickets whilst Mitchell Swepson took three.
Nathan Lyon finished with unattractive figures of 2-for-194, whilst skipper Pat Cummins managed just the lone wicket.
Trailing by 190, Australia were up against it headed into the second innings and looked somewhat disinterested as the pitch began favouring Sri Lanka’s surgical spinners.
David Warner again fell cheaply in what was a disappointing series for the 35-year-old as he finished with just 64 runs for the series at an average of just 21.3 across four innings.
Usman Khawaja was out shortly after before Steve Smith was dismissed without troubling the scorers as Australia found themselves in real bother.
Ashes hero Travis Head’s struggles continued with the South Australian falling for just five in a series he managed just 23 runs at an average of 7.7 before top-scorer Marnus Labuschagne was caught in front of his stumps for just 32.
Cameron Green, Carey, and Cummins showed some resistance, but the Sri Lankan spinners tore through the Australians as Jayasuriya finished with figures of 6-for-59 in one of the greatest Test debuts in the country’s rich history.
Jayasuriya was named Player of the Match, whilst Chandimal was named Player of the Series.
