Mathews hails 'fantastic moment' after SL win

Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera ripped through the Australian batting order to bowl the tourists out for 160 and record another comfortable victory.

Mathews picked out Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal for special praise after his team bounced back from a poor position to win.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews says it was a "fantastic moment" for his side to thrash Australia on Wednesday to complete a 3-0 series whitewash.

Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera ripped through the Australian batting order to bowl the tourists out for 160 and record another comfortable victory. Mathews also picked out Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal for special praise after his team bounced back from a poor position to win.

"What a fantastic moment, especially after being 26-5, to come back really strong," Mathews said. "The credit should go to Dhananjaya de Silva and Dinesh Chandimal, the way they got us through the second and third sessions was fantastic and once again Rangana Herath doing his thing.

"You cannot keep him away from the game. He had a groin strain so he could not run or jump and on one leg he was fantastic, one leg was enough for him on these pitches.

"We thank everyone - the selectors, the fans, most of all my team, a huge thanks to the fans for being right behind us. We had a tough few months but it was great to see how they turned out and supported us."

Herath was again the hero for Sri Lanka, sparking the collapse by bowling Australia captain Steve Smith, with five wickets for 23 runs falling after lunch on the final day of the third Test.

"There's no secret," said Herath, who took 28 wickets in the series. "If you do well and put in a lot of hard work, that's it. "Experience counts a lot and every day we are learning, it all helps me so thank you very much to all these people.

"We had a tough time but we stayed together as a team we knew we are on the way. When we won against Australia in Pallekele we just wanted to continue on the same way."

Speculation has continued to surround Herath's future but the spinner insisted he is yet to make a decision about how long he will continue to play Test cricket.

"Looks good for me, having a break and having some time with the family, I think I have retired at the right time from one day and T20," he commented. "I haven't decided anything - we go series by series - hopefully I wish to play the next series, that's all."