Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara paid tribute to Rangana Herath after the left-arm spinner's five-wicket haul helped secure a 96-run win over New Zealand in the second and final Test in Colombo.

The Black Caps, set a victory target of 494, began the final day needing another 312 runs with only four wickets in hand to salvage a 1-1 draw from the series.

Skipper Daniel Vettori struck a tenacious 140 and forged solid partnerships with overnight partner Jacob Oram (56) and Iain O'Brien (12) to frustrate Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's bowlers chipped away with part-time spinner Tillakaratne Dilshan sending back Oram just before lunch, while Herath picked up the wicket of O'Brien to complete only the third five-wicket haul of his career.

Sri Lanka's master spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who snared Jeetan Patel (12) just after play resumed after lunch, brought up victory for his team by dismissing Vettori.

Herath's five wickets came at the expense of 139 runs from 48 overs and left Sangakkara delighted.

"Herath has been fantastic and the effort he put in bowling almost 50 overs was just incredible," Sangakkara said following his side's 2-0 series win.

"To come in as support for Muralitharan and then for him to become our number one spinner in this Test match with his performance, I think it bodes very well for our future.

"It goes to show that even if Muralitharan is not available for some games for us, we've got the bench strength in our spin department to win matches."

Vettori's display with the bat had kept Sri Lanka from clinching a swift victory, while a shower of rain during the lunch interval had briefly seen the home side's hopes fading.

But Sangakkara insisted he was always confident his side would prevail.

"We go into every game with the mindset to try to do everything to win it," he said.

"It's great to see a lot of guys come into some good form with both bat and ball.

"They've shown a lot of character, especially on the last day to fight through the weather."

Muralitharan pulled up in the middle of an over with a groin strain in the morning and limped off the field, but Sangakkara is not too concerned over the severity of the injury.

"Hopefully Muralitharan will recover in time for the one-dayers," he said.

"It's not a major strain and the physio will be evaluating him.

"First up is the Twenty20s and we've got to think long and hard about our combination and see who is available and who is fit.

"One good thing is that we have a lot of young players in our A side with a lot of top quality.

"So we just have got to pick the best side and hopefully win."

Man of the match Mahela Jayawardene, who had knocks of 92 and 96, also praised Herath.

"I'm actually surprised that I won the man-of-the-match title," he said.

"Rangana bowled his heart out in this Test match and he probably fell short by a couple of inches after bowling almost 50 overs.

"It is tough, but it's pleasing that the guys are playing really good cricket.

"In a group like this you tend to challenge yourself to play well."

Despite the loss, Vettori was happy with the way his young and inexperienced side had played.

"At the start of the day we just wanted to show a little fight and put the runs on the board which we were capable off," Vettori said.

"Jake (Oram) and I had our responsibilities cut out this morning and I think we played pretty well.

"Unfortunately we lost Jake just before lunch, otherwise we could have put a bit more pressure on them.

"A number of our guys have come here to the sub-continent and seen how difficult it is.

"But we've had a few good things that have come up for us.

"We have shown we have some good fight in us and a number of our guys such as Martin Guptill, Tim McIntosh and Daniel Flynn played reasonably well here.

"I think they'll take that experience on board and hopefully when we come back here the next time we'll be up for it."

Earlier in the Test, Vettori became only the eighth player to achieve the rare double of 300 wickets and 3000 runs in Test cricket.

The left-arm spinner said he was proud of achieving the milestone.

"It's pleasing, especially if you look back at New Zealand's history and see that only Sir Richard Hadlee has been able to get there," he said.

"Spin bowlers in New Zealand is not something that you have a lot of, so to be able to get to that milestone is something I'm very proud of."