MELBOURNE — Australia's bowlers battered Sri Lanka's batsmen to win the second Test by a humiliating innings and 201 runs before tea on day three and claim an unassailable 2-0 lead in their three-match Test series Friday. Needing 305 runs to make Australia bat again, Sri Lanka surrendered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after adding only 103 in its second innings, with a top order collapse and a raft of injuries leaving the tourists smarting ahead of Sydney's dead rubber Test next week. Sealing the series a match early was some consolation for Michael Clarke's team after it conceded a hard-fought series 1-0 against the top-ranked Test nation South Africa with a stinging defeat in the third and final Test in Perth. “I said that at the start of the series that our goal was to win these three Test matches and really show that we learnt from the South African series,” Clarke, who scored a sparkling 106 at the MCG to cap a brilliant year with the bat, told reporters. “So far we've done that... My goal doesn't change.” Seamer Mitchell Johnson was justly named man-of-the-match after taking six wickets and making an unbeaten 92 with the bat in an outstanding return to the team after being dumped from the first Test victory in Hobart. Johnson took 4-63 in the first innings to lead the bowling as Sri Lanka was skittled for 156, but his bone-crunching menace may have Australia's selectors pondering a more permanent role for the mercurial paceman. Johnson broke Prasanna Jayawardene's thumb in the first innings to force the wicketkeeper to surrender the gloves to Kumar Sangakkara, then broke the replacement's left forefinger in the second innings in a fiery bout of short-pitched bowling. Sangakkara came off the ground immediately after being struck on the glove by Johnson and the Sri Lanka team later confirmed its master batsman would be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks. “I think that intimidation factor definitely worked out there today,” the 31-year-old Johnson said. Johnson missed out on his second Test century as Australia was bowled out for 460 in the morning session, but was immediately consoled by playing a direct hand in the first two wickets of the second innings, as Sri Lanka's top order disintegrated. Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said blame would be shared throughout the team for handing Australia their seventh most dominant innings victory in Tests. “Today the performance was very disappointing with the boys,” he said. “We need to show more character, we need to see more from the players, especially when you're playing a team like Australia.” “Today I thought we needed to buckle down and bat well,” said Jayawardene. “We lost two wickets in no time in the first over which gave them a lot of momentum and then we just kept losing wickets. You can't pinpoint one thing and say that's where we went wrong ... There were loose shots and a loss of concentration. “At the same time, the Australians played some really good cricket as well. You can't take that away from them. “We need to step up to the plate, we need to show character and really dig deep,” he added. — Agencies Scoreboard Sri Lanka (1st Innings) 156 Australia (1st Innings) Cowan c M. J'wardene b Prasad 36 Warner c Prasad b Mathews 62 Hughes run out (Dilshan) 10 Watson c Samaraweera b Prasad 83 Clarke c M. J'wardene b Eranga 106 M. Hussey c Herath b Dilshan 34 Wade c Eranga b Prasad 01 Johnson not out 92 Siddle c M. Jayawardene b Eranga 13 Lyon c Chandimal b Mathews 01 Bird b Eranga 00 Extras (b9, lb5, w6, nb2) 22 Total (all out; 134.4 overs) 460 Falls: 1-95 (Warner), 2-117 (Hughes), 3-117 (Cowan), 4-311 (Clarke), 5-313 (Watson), 6-315 (Wade), 7-376 (Hussey), 8-434 (Siddle), 9-451 (Lyon), 10-460 (Bird). Bowling: Welegedara 14.4-6-38-0, Eranga 27-2-109-3 (2nb, 5w), Prasad 26-2-106-3 (1w), Mathews 16-3-60-2, Herath 39-7-95-0, Dilshan 12-1-38-1. Sri Lanka (2nd Innings) K'ratne run out (Warner/Johnson) 01 Dilshan c Cowan b Johnson 00 Sangakkara retired injured 27 Jayawardene b Bird 00 Samaraweera lbw b Bird 01 Mathews b Johnson 35 Prasad c Hughes b Lyon 17 Herath not out 11 Eranga c Cowan b Siddle 00 P. Jayawardene absent hurt 00 Welegedara absent hurt 00 Extras (10lb, 1nb) 11 Total (7 wkts; 24.2 overs) 103 Falls: 1-1 (Karunaratne), 2-1 (Dilshan), 3-3 (M. Jayawardene), 4-13 (Samaraweera), 5-74 (Mathews), 6-102 (Prasad), 7-103 (Eranga). Bowling: Johnson 8-0-16-2, Bird 9-1-29-2 (1nb), Siddle 5.2-0-32-1, Lyon 2-0-16-1. Man-of-the-Match: Mitchell Johnson.
