This was Sri Lanka's third straight Test win after beating England in the last of three Tests before the home series against the Kiwis. The visitors were always catching up in the game after Sri Lanka put on 602/5 in the first innings before declaring and bowling the Kiwis out for 88 in their first innings. New Zealand came out all guns blazing in the second innings but it was too little too late for them despite getting 360 in the second innings. Debutant Nishan Peiris took 6/170 in the second innings to go with his three in the first while Prabath Jayasuriya, who took a six-fer in the first innings, took three more in the second. It was, however, Kamindu Mendis who was declared Player of the Match for his 182 not out in SL's only batting innings - his fifth ton of the year in Tests and ninth 50+ score in 13 Test innings he has played. "I'm enjoying scoring runs - especially in Galle, which is my hometown. Credit goes to Kusal and Chandimal as well. It's [about having] the same mindset, and some small changes I made for England. I changed some things for here as well," said Mendis to broadcasters after the match. Jayasuriya, who took nine wickets in the first Galle Test as well, was named Player of the Series for his 18 wickets in two games. The spinner praised his teammate and debutant Peiris for making things easy. "Nishan Peiris is good. It was positive from him. This pitch was harder than the previous one. We plan to do our basic things [right]. We just try to keep bowling wicket to wicket," he said. Sri Lanka's skipper Dananjaya de Silva acknowledged the overall effort including by the fielders and said: "I call well and toss well! Nishan was brilliant, he was doing well in domestic cricket. He has the control. We have been practising hard [with the catching], and it has paid off."