The damage was done by Head, who destroyed Sri Lanka on a dangerous road, and his senior spinner, Nathan Lion.
Tourists were in the box seats after breaking the lead of 109’s first innings in a spin-dominated low-scoring contest. A combination of Lyon (4-31) and spin partner Mitchell Swepson (2-34) cut Sri Lanka’s top orders, and the head polished the tail to dodge Sri Lanka with 113 in two innings.
Skipper Dimus Carnaratne’s 23 is the best aggregate on Sri Lanka’s ugly scorecards, with all 10 batsmen fired by spinners.
Lyon finished in a 9-wicket match, but Cameron Green was named the best player with a score of 77.
Australian captain Pat Cummins was pleased that they had mastered the difficult conditions to create an “amazing victory.”
“I woke up this morning and didn’t expect it to happen so early,” he said. “We were really clear when planning how everyone would do it, especially the courage and positivity shown by our batters.”
Previously, Australia lost the last two wickets and added eight runs to its overnight score before bowling at 318.
Sri Lanka showed early on how he wanted to bat twice when the opener milked 17 runs from the opening of Mitchell Starc. That approach was risky, and Sri Lanka’s batting order simply fell when Cummins introduced spins from both ends after three overs.
Carna Ratne fell after an attempt to sweep with Lyon brought the bottom edge, but opening partner Patum Nissanka (14) missed the ball altogether in an attempt to play the same shot as Swepson.