Perera dismissed Marsh for 23 when the batsman defended a delivery and Kusal Mendis thrust out his hands at forward short leg to parry the ball and twisted his body backwards to complete a stunning catch.
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Off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed four for 123, the first of which was thanks to a weird stumping from Australia wicketkeeper Peter Nevill to dismiss Dimuth Karunaratne.
Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored a century in the first innings is unbeaten on 44 and Suranga Lakmal is yet to get off the mark.
Sri Lanka’s whitewash win over Australia has displaced the Aussies from the top of the ICC Test rankings and helped push India to the number one spot.
More than the losses in the first two Tests, it will take some explaining from the Aussies as to how they lost the third match after reducing Sri Lanka to 26/5 in the first hour of the day’s play.
India registered a 237-run win in the third Test and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series, after winning the first Test by an innings and 92 runs, the second ending in a draw.
Warner brought up his first 50 of the series after lunch before the wheels came off Australia’s challenge with Herath striking a double blow in his 10th over.
Adam Voges (22) and Peter Nevill (14) were the only other batsmen to make it into double-figures as Australia were bowled out for 379.
But it was an even more remarkable feat given that he had to retire hurt while batting in Sri Lanka’s first innings after being struck in the groin while putting on a gritty 33 at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC).
Sri Lanka were as good in the second innings as they were in the first.
The way Australia have batted this series, Sri Lanka have plenty of runs to play with and can attack with their three spinners – Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan – from the start.
India can hold onto their numero uno status with victory over West Indies in the fourth and final Test starting tomorrow in Port of Spain, which would give them a 3-0 series win and keep them on 112 points.
Herath was again at the forefront for Sri Lanka.
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“We’ve under-performed [but] all we’re anxious about is actually the next match and learning from the mistakes you made”.
