Sawt Falasteen - Mendis stranded on 85 as Australia bowl Sri Lanka out for 257

Resuming from their overnight score of 229-9, Sri Lanka's last pair dug in with stubborn resistance, adding 34 valuable runs for the final wicket.

Their defiance was eventually broken when Beau Webster plucked a stunning reflex catch at second slip off Matthew Kuhnemann's bowling to dismiss Lahiru Kumara for two.

Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Kuhnemann each took three wickets for the tourists.

At one stage, Sri Lanka's innings had gone into free fall after a middle-order collapse, with the hosts staring down the barrel of being bundled out for under 200.

But wicketkeeper Mendis played a lone hand to drag his team past the 250-run mark.

With the lower order offering little resistance, Mendis expertly took calculated risks while keeping the scoreboard ticking.

His knock, laced with 10 crisp boundaries and a six, is now the highest score by a Sri Lankan in the series.

The Australian bowling unit operated like a well-oiled machine, with part-timer Travis Head chipping in with the crucial wicket of Kamindu Mendis (13).

From the outset the Galle pitch has offered significant assistance to the spinners.

The visitors have already put the Warne-Murali Trophy beyond Sri Lanka’s reach, having taken an unassailable 1-0 lead with a crushing victory in the first Test.

The innings and 242-run humiliation stands as Sri Lanka's worst defeat in Test history.

T.Samara--SF-PST