Sri Lanka registered only their second Test victory against Australia in history (after 1999 in Kandy), as they drew first blood in the three-match home series by 106 runs.
It was 21-year-old Kusal Mendis's outstanding 176 in Sri Lanka's second innings that made all the difference as the visitors were left to chase a stiff total. Skipper Steve Smith (55) fought hard and was backed up by Peter Nevill and Steve O'Keefe's record-breaking "blockathon" for the ninth wicket. Not many teams, however, have found an answer to a rampaging Rangana Herath on the fifth day, who finished with a match haul of 9/103.
The script bore a stark similarity to the Galle Test match between India and Sri Lanka last year: one team dominating proceedings for the better part of the game before a brilliant century turned the match on its head. Then arrived Herath and his near-unplayable arm-balls, and the opposition had no answer. This was exactly how things panned out at Pallekele, where rain and bad light played spoilsport on all five days.
On day one, the Aussies had the Lankans on the mat; Josh Hazlewood, along with spinners Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon skittled the hosts out for 117. Herath and Lakshan Sandakan, who had a memorable first outing for his country, wrested the honours back on the second day, taking four wickets each to dismiss the Aussies for 203. However, they couldn't stop the No. 1 Test side from taking a commanding lead of 86.
The writing looked to be on the wall for Angelo Mathews's men after Mitchell Marsh scalped a couple of early breakthroughs. But Mendis countered the pressure through some high-quality batting; easy on the eye, choosing to wait for the bad deliveries to cut loose. The impatient Aussies were rattled by his finding the ropes with ease, and began to lose their rhythm. With handy contributions from Dinesh Chandimal (42), Dhananjeya de Silva (36) and Herath (35), the Aussies were set a stiff target of 268.
Spin ruled the roost towards the end of day four. David Warner was dismissed cheaply for the second time in the match while Usman Khawaja and Joe Burns failed to capitalise on their starts.
Playing for a draw is not a philosophy in line with the Australian cricketing mantra. Still, O'Keefe and Nevill played out 22 consecutive maiden overs, recording the slowest ever partnership in the game's history. O'Keefe was fortunate to have survived a bat-pad appeal early on, but salvation came for Sri Lanka with 20 minutes left for the Tea break. It was De Silva who broke the Aussie resistance. Herath cleaned up O'Keefe to claim the match.
Brief scores
Sri Lanka 117 and 353 (Kusal Mendis 176, Dinesh Chandimal 42; Mitchell Starc 4/84, Josh Hazlewood 2/59) beat Australia 203 and 161 (Steve Smith 55, Joe Burns 29; Rangana Herath 5 for 54, Lakshan Sandakan 3 for 49) by 106 runs.
