Australia complete a remarkable win

Australia 401 and 375 beat Sri Lanka 407 and 248 by 121 runs

Sri Lanka stopped Shane Warne from overhauling Courtney Walsh's 519-wicket world record but could not prevent Australia from inflicting upon them their first ever series whitewash on home soil with a 121-run victory. Warne played his part, snapping up four wickets in the final session, as Sri Lanka came within eight balls of saving the game before they were finally bowled out for 248.

During the afternoon, the band played, Warne toiled and the threat of Sri Lanka's first home whitewash had started to fade as Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene battened down the hatches after lunch and added 64 in 160 balls for the third wicket.

Warne had failed to make headway despite the dusty dry pitch and Australia's seamers were also beginning to show tired legs after an exhausting tour, although Michael Kasprowicz was gun-barrel straight and Jason Gillespie occasionally conjured up a real devil on the placid surface.

But, as tea approached, Lehmann, the Man-of-the-Match after 153 in the first innings and five wickets in the match, grabbed the initiative back for Australia with the wickets of Samaraweera and Jayawardene. Sri Lanka went to tea with their dressing room starting to flutter on 186 for 4.

Samaraweera, promoted to the number three slot, had bedded down on his favourite home pitch (he has scored all three of his Test tons here) and looked set for a long stay as he passed fifty for the fifth time. But he was drawn down the pitch and stumped (156 for 3).

Sri Lanka then suffered misfortune as Jayawardene, who had batted so well and watchfully for his 97-ball 37, was given out caught behind off Lehmann, but television replays showed the ball had only brushed his pad (181 for 4).

After tea, Warne finally claimed his first wicket of the innings as Kumar Sangakkara (27), who was shifted down to number five after Samaraweera's promotion, patted a legbreak defensively which then spun between his legs onto the stumps.

Hashan Tillakaratne and Tillakaratne Dilshan held Australia's bowlers at bay for nearly an hour. Tillakaratne blocked each delivery while Dilshan played his natural free-spirited game, hitting five boundaries and speeding to 31 from 44 balls.

But Dilshan's aggressive approach eventually proved his downfall as he miscued an attempted inside-out drive over cover and was caught at mid-off. The breakthrough opened up Sri Lanka's lower order with the new ball just moments away (232 for 6).

Tillakaratne's last innings as captain ended shortly after the start of the final hour as he was trapped lbw by Jason Gillespie, who was hunting for his 200th wicket with a shiny new ball. Warne returned to the attack to snare Nuwan Zoysa four overs later.

Chaminda Vaas resisted for 74 minutes for his nine runs, eschewing the daring approach that had cost Sri Lanka dearly in the second Test in Kandy, but was finally trapped lbw by Warne in the 13th over of the final hour. Next over, the penultimate of the series, Kasprowicz pinned Rangana Herath to seal Australia's victory.

Sri Lanka's morning started brightly, with Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu (14) extending their opening partnership to 45. Jayasuriya cut a couple of early boundaries and Atapattu drove crisply straight down the ground. Kasprowicz was denied Jayasuriya's wicket on 28 when Adam Gilchrist floored a difficult one-handed chance.

But Kasprowicz was not to be deprived for long, as Atapattu's off stump was sent cart-wheeling by an offcutter, a carbon copy dismissal of the first innings. It was the sixth time in 11 innings during this tour that his stumps had been rattled, a worrying statistic for an opening batsman (45 for 1).

Jayasuriya's 131 in Kandy was an electric innings, a knock that carried Sri Lanka to the brink of a famous win, but today's hand was more sedate. There was, of course, the odd rifle-cracking boundary through the offside, an area that Australia protected with a deep point, but he stopped short of an all-out assault.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka were scoring at a good rate and local dreamers may have started to sense a remarkable victory. But an umpiring blunder quashed those hopes when Jayasuriya was given out caught at backward short leg off Lehmann's first delivery of the morning. The ball only brushed his pad.