Herath, who was hit on the groin by a Josh Hazlewood delivery during the second day's play, retired hurt, following a defiant stand with Dinesh Chandimal that helped Sri Lanka finish with a total of 355 after being 26 for 5 at one stage.
On day three, when Steven Smith and Shaun Marsh led Australia's fightback with a 246-run stand for the second wicket, Herath, whose bowling was hampered as a result of his injury, had managed to send down 22 overs without much success. However, that did not affect his determination as the 38-year-old left-arm spinner's persistence was on full display and he was ably rewarded with figures of 6 for 81 in 38.1 overs.
Herath's 25th five-wicket haul in Tests meant that Australia, who were going strong at 267 for 1 at one stage, ended up losing their last nine wickets for only 112 runs to finish with a slender 24-run lead.
Speaking of Herath's performance, Ford, who address the press conference on Monday (August 15), said: "I can't say enough about the bloke, I was joking in the dressing room saying he's my all-time sporting hero, he's just gone ahead of [Roger] Federer. He's injured, he's bowling on one leg, he just shows so much guts and fight. For an older guy to show that, it just ignites the fight within the younger group, the example that he sets.
"It really makes the coach and the leadership group, it makes their job much easier when you've got a chap like that who goes out there and shows such courage batting, takes on the quicks, and after his nasty incident batting, comes on to bowl and makes a couple of brilliant diving stops off his own bowling. If you've got an old man throwing himself like that then the youngsters don't have any excuse. So to have him in the side is brilliant, and not just for his wonderful skills of bowling - he's once again proved what a brilliant and clever bowler he is," Ford said.
The Test match has been a hard-fought one, which comes as a welcome change after two consecutive one-sided affairs that saw Australia concede an unassailable lead to the hosts. Ford, who called it 'a heck of a tough Test match', said Sri Lanka have a slight advantage considering that they will be bowling last on a pitch that has assisted the spinners.
"It's been a heck of a tough Test match, a really tough three days for both sides, it's been Test match cricket probably at its toughest. It's been a roller-coaster ride for both teams, it's ebbed and flowed, probably both teams know that an opportunity here or there has been missed, which might have changed the flow of the game," Ford said. "But both sides are very much in the Test match right now and there's a heck of a lot to play for in the next two days. Both sides have outstanding players that are capable of changing the flow of the match over the next two days. But from our point of view we just feel that bowling last on that wicket will be a bit of an advantage and hopefully create a bit of extra pressure and hopefully sway it in our favour."
Ford was pleased with the way Sri Lanka came back after a strong partnership between Marsh and Smith. While crediting the Australian second-wicket pair for performing well in tough conditions, Sri Lanka's coach said the rest of the visiting-team batsmen might find it tough in the second innings.
"It is very positive that we managed to make sure that not too many of the other batters spent a lot of time there. I think it is one of those wickets that if you manage to spend a bit of time then you start to get settled and you start to work out your ways of accumulating runs and ways of staying out of trouble. But it's quite hard to get in and those that didn't get in would obviously be worried about their second go. But the two that did get in certainly did a fantastic job and credit to them because it was mastership in terms of batting," Ford said.
The Sri Lanka coach was also happy with the way the youngsters have done in the series, mentioning that some of their performances have taken him by surprise. "It's been exciting to see (the youngsters performing well) and a little bit surprising to have done as well as they have. But we still have a long, long way to go and they will still disappoint us from time to time. But I think with the attitude that they've got and the work ethic, there are some exciting signs for the future," Ford said.
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