Match Analysis

Pakistan's seamers failed to create opportunities as a unit. Their bowling coach Mohammad Akram reiterated that the bowlers let Sri Lanka off the hook by not maintaining any pressure

Hamstrung by a hand injury, Mahela Jayawardene was forced to guts it out to make his 32nd Test century

Mahesh Rawat has graduated into the mainstay of the Railways batting. Arindam Ghosh is benefiting from his shift from Bengal. The pair kept Railways in the hunt with their third century stand this season

Question marks will continue to hang over Khurram Manzoor's technique, but the opener fought it out to score 73 on a day when few of his team-mates could put bat on ball

From looking completely out of their depth in Australia to destroying Pakistan's top order in Dubai, Sri Lanka's fast bowlers have come a long way to realising their penetrative potential

Andy Flower has been the best coach England have had but the environment he created has led to 5-0

Australia's triumph was achieved on the back of an attack who proved themselves the fittest, fastest and perhaps even the best of any Ashes bowling ensemble

In the second innings in Abu Dhabi, albeit on a tame pitch, Mohammad Hafeez brought his ODI form into Tests and Ahmed Shehzad scored a half-century on debut - signs that have pleased Pakistan and Misbah-ul-Haq

Sri Lanka will be pleased at having yielded no ground to Pakistan, after having been dormant in this format for so long. The pitch may have had the final say, but Sri Lanka were the more satisfied side in the end

England's chief executive David Collier has guaranteed Andy Flower a job until 2015 - and the debrief on England's Ashes humiliation has not begun. Can that be right?

The sustained excellence of Australia's bowling attack - never bettered according to a past great, Glenn McGrath, has brought deep satisfaction to their mentor Craig McDermott

If Sri Lanka's young cricketers can build on Friday's gains, perhaps in years to come fans will look upon this match not simply as Angelo Mathews' coming of age, but as the turn of an era

As England again wilted in the face of an Australia counterattack, inadequacies in the national team environment were laid bare

Australia's wicketkeeper has repeatedly been the man of the hour and arguably the man of the series

Kaushal Silva's entry into the Test scene hasn't been smooth, but if given the opportunitiy to blossom, Sri Lanka may have a man who can stabilise the top order

Azhar Ali suffered a dip in form in 2013 but replacing him with Mohammad Hafeez may not be a solution for Pakistan's long-term plans

Although Sri Lanka ended up conceding a big lead to Pakistan on the second day, there were a few signs of a potentially good attack. For their young bowlers to develop, however, Sri Lanka must play more Tests

Without a mandate to rule, Angelo Mathews is having to work extremely hard to prove his worth as captain. He played an important innings to save his side from disaster on day one in Abu Dhabi

Over a Test career that lasted 18 years, there were hardly any boxes that Jacques Kallis did not tick

The 1-0 series win over India embellished South Africa's strengths and reputation. The team, however, needs to find a lead spinner and adopt a forward-thinking outlook to prepare for life without Jacques Kallis