England won by 42 runs
PLAYER OF THE MATCH : Jonny Bairstow
Batter
Bowler
The proud England skipper collects the trophy and joins his team-mates to pose for the photographs. All smiles! A win to savour for a long time. Are England the best touring Test team in the world? Well, that could be debatable. But, this England side is surely the most competitive non-Asian team currently to counter spin in these conditions. England wrap up their cricketing year in style - Windies is their next mission in 2019. Sri Lanka, on the contrary, have more than an issue to address before they leave for New Zealand. It's time to bring down the curtains. Hope you enjoyed our coverage as much as we did bringing it to you. Until next time, it's goodbye from Abhinand Raghavendran, Akshay Maanay, Sriram, Varun Dixit and Sulthan.
Joe Root, England captain: Proud of everyone, brilliant performance from the whole squad. Not surprised, we knew we were capable of winning here. The learning and ability within the squad, we can keep improving. That's been our secret - been able to bring different guys in - pick a team that can take 20 wickets and post scores that could put pressure on the opponents. You are only as good as your team. You can't look past that. The experienced players have taken the extra responsibility. It's been exceptional. It's been a complete team effort, it's been a great tour. Proud of my team. Everything about this trip has been magnificent. Fans have been exceptional. I speak on behalf of everyone involved - I am grateful for the support.
Ben Foakes, Player of the Series: It was amazing, been crazy few weeks. The Sri Lankan guys played really well, especially in this game. Felt very hard (keeping wickets), I have been here, this is my second tour and that experience helped. So much has happened in the last few weeks. I'll see what happens.
Chants of Rooooooooot!
Ben Foakes, Player of the Series: It was amazing, been crazy few weeks. The Sri Lankan guys played really well, especially in this game. Felt very hard (keeping wickets), I have been here, this is my second tour and that experience helped. So much has happened in the last few weeks. I'll see what happens.
Suranga Lakmal, Sri Lanka captain: I expected a close game anyway. There were a few small mistakes that cost us big. We have to rectify those small things, looking to do that in the future. Everybody did their best.
Jonny Bairstow, Player of the Match: Really good for me, not often you come into the side and win the series. It's been a good tour. It's been up and down for me personally. Getting injured and coming back into the team, it's been a good journey. Just see how it goes, plenty of cricket to be played. Look forward to the Windies tour. It's nice to be out with the friends.
Stat attack courtesy Deepu:
* Visiting teams sweeping all three formats on a SL tour:
Pakistan in 2015
India in 2017
England in 2018/19
* Visiting teams whitewashing sub-continent teams in Asia (3+ Tests):
3-0 Aus vs Pak in 2002/03
3-0 Aus vs SL in 2003/04
3-0 Eng vs SL in 2018/19
* Whitewashes vs SL in SL (3+ Tests):
3-0 by Aus, 2003/04
3-0 by India, 2017
3-0 by Eng, 2018/19
* In the 19 series since Ashes 2013/14, England have lost at least one Test every series barring two - vs SL at home in 2016 (2-0) and away in 2018/19 (3-0).
* Whitewashes away from home by ENG (3+ Tests):
3-0 in SA, 1895/96
3-0 in NZ, 1962/63
3-0 in SL, 2018/19
* Only the second time Sri Lankan batsman failed to score an individual 100 in a 3+ Test series at home. Other was against Australia in 1999 - Herath's first series.
Jack Leach: Very special. Amazing game, Sri Lanka pushed us all the way. I was just trying to get my body going as I wanted to bowl with the new ball. (Talking about the last wicket) I tried to slide one on and I was just happy to take the wicket and walk off the pitch. It was quite a big moment (the direct-hit to dismiss Kusal Mendis).
Ben Stokes: It was (a great game). They put on an early partnership, but that run out was crucial. Not a lot really (was spoken during lunch). We knew we needed to get that one wicket. It is tough conditions, really hot and takes a toll. My job was to be the enforcer with the ball. Happy to contribute. We talked about this (whitewash) before the start of the game.
England couldn't have asked for a better tour. They were always favourites to win the ODIs and the one-off T20I, but not many would have predicted a whitewash in the longest format. Ask South Africa, who were thrashed 2-0 in the Tests earlier this year. But England ended up being too good - in all facets of the game. The troika of spinners were top-notch, the lower-order contributed when it mattered the most, Stokes provided the important breakthroughs - either with his bowling or fielding, Jennings caught almost everything that came his way at short leg, while Foakes in his debut Test series top-scored and showed what he's made of - amassing 277 runs in 3 matches. On the other hand, there was not a single centurion for Sri Lanka in the 3-match series. Stay tuned for a couple of player interviews and presentations..
Like the first two Tests, it was another complete team performance from England. Root called it right yet again at the toss (eight in a row) and had no hesitations to bat first. England's newest No. 3 - Jonny Bairstow - announced his comeback into the Test team in style and his magnificent century set the platform for his team. England should have got more in the first innings, but in their pursuit to score quickly, they gifted their wickets away and ended up scoring only a par score. In reply, the Lankans started well with the bat - thanks to Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva. However, they decided to be generous hosts and collapsed - losing nine wickets for just 67 runs. From there, it was always going to be a tough task for the Islanders and Buttler's counterattacking cricket coupled with the lower order runs took the game away from them. Eventually, the target of 327 runs proved to be too much for the home team.
At the start of the day, not many would have expected this match to last so long. But, thank the duo of Pushpakumara and Lamkal - who stitched a 58-run stand for the last wicket. Kusal Mendis and Roshen Silva kept Sri Lanka in the hunt with a steady century partnership, only to squander it via a run-out - courtesy a right-handed rifle-throw from Jack Leach. After that, the visitors should have wrapped it up quickly. However, in arrived Pushpakumara and he dragged the match to the final session with an exciting 40-ball 42, but the result was inevitable. England claim their first clean sweep away from home after 56 years (minimum three Tests).
15:32 Local Time, 10:02 GMT, 15:32 IST: Look at the England players. They are absolutely pumped. They form a huddle and jump in joy. Magnificent performance. A standing ovation from the English fans and the players return the support by walking over and applauding. The spinners have taken 100 of the 116 wickets in this series. Time for handshakes as the Sri Lankans walk down the dressing room.