Sri Lanka insisted on better from their middle order in the build-up to the match - and on Monday delivered for a four-wicket win over Australia in their fifth and final ODI in Colombo.
A hundred from Upul Tharanga and five wickets for Lasith Malinga saw Sri Lanka to a comfortable 78-run victory in the third one-dayer against Australia in Hambantota on Tuesday.
Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke continued their solid run of form on the sub-continent with an unbeaten half-century each as Australia romped to an eight-wicket in the second ODI.
Mitchell Johnson's six-for and half-centuries from Shane Watson, Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting did the trick for Australia as they romped to a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Australia, with just a couple of wins at the World Cup and a token series victory over Bangladesh to show for their past six months, have to serve up a dominant showing to justify their number-one ODI ranking.
As a prelude to the ODI and Test series, Sri Lanka and Australia slug it out in two T20Is, with the visitors looking to correct a poor record in the format.
A maiden T20 international ton from Tillakaratne Dilshan led Sri Lanka to a comfortable 35-run victory over Australia in the first of two 20-over clashes in Pallekele.
England face a battle for survival on the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka after being reduced to nine for one in pursuit of a victory target of 350 in Kandy on Tuesday.
