Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 series win over New Zealand despite a defiant century by Daniel Vettori in Colombo.

The Kiwis began the final day on 182-6, chasing a target of 494, and hoping for rain and heroics from Vettori.
There was a weather hold-up after lunch, by which time Jacob Oram had been dismissed for 56.

There is no sugar-coating the pill when a team gets beaten 2-0 and yes, New Zealand made a meal of this tour. Daniel Vettori’s goal of keeping Sri Lanka to 0-0 didn’t quite go to plan and he was left to almost single-handedly carry a flagging team. Vettori was New Zealand’s highest wicket-taker and run-scorer in two Tests.

Rangana Herath’s five-wicket haul overshadowed a remarkable century from Daniel Vettori as Sri Lanka register victory.
Vettori struck a tenacious 140 and had combined with the tail to offer stiff resistance after his seventh-wicket stand with Jacob Oram (54) was ended in the morning session by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Sri Lanka were expected to wrap up victory early on the final day, but had to wait until the 68th over of the day to seal a 2-0 sweep and cement their place at No. 2 in the ICC Test rankings. They had New Zealand six wickets down for 182 at stumps on day four, but were thoroughly frustrated by a century stand between Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram in a cracking morning session.

Rangana Herath, the left-arm spinner, believes that he is good enough to hold down a regular spot in the Sri Lankan side in Test cricket as well as the limited-overs forms of the game. He hasn’t been a regular in the Sri Lankan set-up, often being behind Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in the pecking order.