Crushing Aussie win snaps 19-year drought
On a Sunday, the team made up a 2-0 victory and won the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy, achieving its first Test series sweep in 19 years in Asian soil.
lectured the last wicket pair to the leg side to seal a 9-wicket win on day four, which brought up a Test series whitewash in Asia for the first time since Ricky Ponting led a 2-0 win over Bangladesh back in 2005.
The win in Galle also gave Australia its first Test series bash in Sri Lanka since 2011, when Michael Clarke captained a 1-0 Ashes victory in a three-match series.
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Marnus Labuschagne joined up in the middle and drove the visitors back home.
Khawaja finished not out on 27 and Labuschagne was not out on 26, a small victory for the Queenslander after his well-documented struggles at the crease.
The batsman lost his wicket when he mistimed an edge on a shot at cutting, and it was caught by the wicket-keeper.
On day four, earlier on, Steve Smith took his 200th Test catch, becoming the first Aussie to achieve this milestone, not counting wicketkeepers.
Sri Lanka resumed play on day four with Kusal Mendis batting overnight on 48 and Lahiru Kumara joining him at the crease.
Mendis chopped the ball to the deep outfield for two runs to bring up 50, but he got out two deliveries later. Nathan Lyon coaxed vicious bounce from a dry and worn Galle pitch, and a top edge popped up to short fine leg as Mendis attempted to play the delivery back on his back foot. Smith was waiting at short fine leg, where he took his 200th Test catch.
Off-spinner grabbed the 10th wicket of the Sri Lankan innings with Beau Webster trapping Kumara, who gave it a big swipe but missed the shot completely, got bowled.
The Australians thought they'd tidied up the Sri Lankans when Lyon got Kumara's would-be edge in the previous over, only for replays to show the ball had bounced into Webster's hands at second slip.
Lyon would've gotten his 25th Test five-for if the ball had carried better, but finished with 4-84 instead.
Fair dinkum, southpaw tweaker Matt Kuhnemann picked up 4-63, further solidifying his rep as a top-notch subcontinent specialist, while Webster chipped in with 2-6.
The Sri Lankans were counting on Mendis to take things to the next level and increase the tail end's contribution, but the hosts could only manage to add 20 runs to their lead going into the night.
Alex Carey got the man of the match award for scoring 156, a new Australian record for a wicketkeeper in Asia. This was also the highest Test score by an Aussie wicketkeeper in Asia, going past Adam Gilchrist's record. He again played superbly in the second Test, finishing the game with three catches and a stumping.
Smith took out the player of the series after notching up 272 runs with a remarkable average of 136, including scores of 141 and 131. He also snaffled a series-high five catches, and was outstanding in his leadership, making shrewd bowling changes and perfecting his field placements as acting captain.
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