Australia cruise to clinical series win over Sri Lanka

A clinical Australia completed a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka to seal a dominant 2-0 series win on day four.

Sri Lanka's slump with the bat on day three cost them dearly, with Australia needing less than 25 minutes to take their final two wickets on Sunday.

Prabath Jayasuriya was taken with the final ball on Saturday, and Sri Lanka could only add 20 runs to their overnight total.

Kusal Mendis, who had raced to 48 on Saturday, reached his half-century on his second delivery of the day, only to be caught by Steve Smith, who claimed his 200th Test catch two balls later.

Lahiru Kumara (nine) and Nishan Peiris (four) could not keep the fight going, with Australia dismissing their hosts for 231, with a total of 75 needed to win.

The tourists lost just one wicket in their chase; Travis Head (20) was dismissed by Jayasuriya in the eighth over, with Australia having already racked up 38.

Usman Khawaja, who had set the tone in the first Test with a double century, steadily reached an unbeaten 27, with Marnus Labuschange's 26 helping get Australia over the line for a rare win in Sri Lanka.

Australia have won the 2nd Test by 9 wickets, sealing the Warne-Murali Trophy 2-0. #SLvAUS pic.twitter.com/l5GHsbkzcH
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) February 9, 2025

Data Debrief: Clean sweep

Australia had not won a Test series in Sri Lanka since 2011, but based on their performances in these two matches, it did not seem that way.

They have now won five Tests in Galle, the most by a visiting team in Sri Lanka at any venue, surpassing Pakistan's four.

Not only that, but their win by nine wickets is only the third instance of a visiting team winning a Test by that margin. The last time it happened was in 2022 (also an Australia win in Galle).

And Smith, who impressed with the bat in the tourists' first innings, also became the first Australian fielder to reach 200 Test catches. With that, he equals Jacques Kallis and is only behind Rahul Dravid (210), Root (207) and Mahela Jayawardene (205).