Incidentally, this was Sri Lanka's only second Test series victory against Australia. The only other time they pipped the tourists was back in 1999, when the home side won a rain-marred three-match series 1-0.
After the lunch break, Mitchell Starc (26) entertained the sizeable crowd with his long handle, but he was only delaying the inevitable. Once he was nipped out by Rangana Herath, Josh Hazlewood (7) and Peter Nevill (24) were dismissed in quick succession. The match ended in a dramatic fashion as Nevill flicked the ball towards Kusal Mendis stationed at short leg, who showed superb reflexes to effect a direct hit to catch the wicket-keeper-batsman short of the crease.
The visitors have now suffered eight successive loses in Asia. On the other hand, after a chastening summer in England where they couldn't post even a single win across formats against the home team, Sri Lanka have a lot to cheer about. It was their collective brilliance that powered them to a series victory. Herath and Perera teamed up to pluck 18 wickets between them in the match, while Mendis and Angelo Mathews composed useful hands. The ever-alert close-in fielders also played a major role by snapping up tough chances.
At the start of the day, Perera and Lakshan Sandakan joined forces to prise out David Warner (41), Steve Smith (30), Adam Voges (28) and Mitchell Marsh (18) to put the outcome of the match beyond doubt.
Among the Australian batsmen, Warner showed the required tactical nous to flare briefly. He looked to get to the pitch of the ball, but as soon as the duo of Perera and Herath pulled their length back, he camped in the crease to thread the gaps in the field. However, with subtle variations of drift and turn, the 34-year-old off spinner nipped out the aggressive opener.
For a while, Perera was tossing it up and plugging away in the channel outside the off stump. He then shifted his line to target the stumps and resorted to bowling the arm-ball. Warner couldn't pick the variation and was rapped on the pads. After a bit of deliberation, the on-field umpire answered the loud appeal in the affirmative. Warner, though, took the review, but the ball-tracker clearly projected that it would knock over the stumps and Perera was rewarded for his perseverance.
At the other end of the spectrum, Smith played with an air of composure to hold the creaky batting line-up together. He attempted to step down the track, but also on occasions, waited for the ball to arrive and play under his eye-line. His partner, Voges, tried to be proactive by bringing out the reverse sweep. The 36-year-old middle-order batsman then charged down the track to Perera and seemed to have eked out an inside edge with the fielder positioned at short leg grabbing the chance.
Voges, however, confidently elected for the review and it was clear on replays that it had missed the edge of the bat, and Chris Gaffaney had to overturn his decision. Sri Lanka, though, didn't have to wait for long to celebrate as Perera prised out Smith in the 20th over of the innings.
The loud appeal for a bat-pad dismissal was initially not upheld. However, Angelo Mathews straight away took the review and there seemed to be a faint inside edge. For the second time in three overs, Gaffaney was forced to reverse his decision.
Voges, to his credit, soaked up the pressure to keep the spin trio of Herath, Perera and Lakshan Sandakan at bay. He had a few nervy moments on the way, but was able to glue the innings together for a period of time. Mitchell Marsh looked unsure as he prodded and poked at deliveries just on and around the off-stump, and after sharing a stand 39 with Voges, was adjudged leg before in the 33rd over.
He too was ruled not out by the on-field umpire, but Sri Lanka opted for the review. As Marsh didn't offer a shot and with the ball hitting the stumps, the verdict was reversed.
Australia have a lot to ponder, after slipping to yet another loss in Asia. The visitors' woes against the turning ball can be encapsulated by the fact that Smith is the only batsman to have a compiled a fifty for them in this series so far. The top-ranked Test side will look to end the series with a consolation victory in the third Test at Colombo, starting on August 13.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 281 (Kusal Mendis 86, Angelo Mathews 54; Mitchell Starc 5-44) and 237 (Dilruwan Perera 64, Angelo Mathews 47; Mitchell Starc 6-50) beat Australia 106 (David Warner 42, Mitchell Marsh 27; Dilruwan Perera 4-29, Rangana Herath 4-35) and 183 (David Warner 41; Dilruwan Perera 6-70) by 229 runs
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