Clarke,Hughes tons help Aus draw Test,win series

Australia won the three-match Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 after captain Michael Clarke and Phil Hughes scored centuries to force a draw on Tuesday in the third Test.

Australia was dismissed for 488 in its second innings after erasing a 157-run deficit. Spinner Rangana Herath returned a career-best figures of seven wickets for 157 and recorded his 100th Test wicket. Sri Lanka was set an impossible 331 to win in less than a session and batted for two overs,scoring seven without loss,before the captains decided to call off play.

Clarke hit 112 and shared a record 176-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Mike Hussey,who was out for 93. Hughes was earlier dismissed for 126. Hussey was named player of the series after scoring two centuries and two half-centuries in five innings.

Long-awaited century

I am pretty happy. I am not the only one in that change room,all the boys are stoked, Clarke said of the series win. Its been a fantastic tour I guess,both the one-day series and this Test series have gone to plan. Clarke had not scored a century in 13 matches over 18 months before this.

Sri Lanka started the final day hoping for quick wickets in its search for a series-leveling victory. Herath struck in his first over when he had Hughes caught by Lahiru Thirimanne,but Clarke and Hussey combined to frustrate the bowlers,sharing the best fifth-wicket partnership in Test cricket between the two nations.

Clarke hit three sixes and 14 boundaries in a 178-ball innings before he was caught by Tharanga Paranavitana off Herath. Hughes spent more than five hours in total at the crease to score 126 runs and help build Australias lead. It was Hughes first hundred in more than two years.

Nielsen steps down as coach

Sydney: Meanwhile,Australia head coach Tim Nielsen has decided to step down rather than re-apply for his job. Nielsen would have been forced to reapply after a seven-month review of Australian cricket recommended that the role of national team coach should be expanded and refined.

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Rather than go through the process,Nielsen decided to begin a new chapter in his professional life, Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland said. Nielsen coached Australia in 15 Test between 2007 and 2011,winning nine,losing five and drawing one. He coached Australia in 25 ODIs with 17 wins,seven losses and one draw.

Scoreboard: Australia 1st innings: 316 all out; Sri Lanka 1st innings: 473 all out; Australia 2nd innings: S Watson lbw b Herath 21,P Hughes c Thirimanne b Herath 126,S Marsh c Thirimanne b Herath 18,R Ponting c M Jayawardene b Herath 28,M Clarke c Paranavitana b Herath 112,M Hussey c Welegedara b Dilshan 93,B Haddin c Lakmal b Herath 30,M Johnson c Eranga b Welegedara 4,P Siddle lbw b Herath 26,T Copeland c Paranavitana b Eranga 3,N Lyon not out 1; Extras: b 5,lb 11,w 6,nb 4 26; Total: all out in 138.5 overs 488; Fall of wickets: 1-62,2-122,3-188,4-220,5-396,6-448,7-452,8-471,9-486; Bowling: S Eranga 18.5-2-62-1,S Lakmal 22- 2-86-0,C Welegedara 24-3-88-1,R Herath 52-11-157-7,T Dilshan 19-0-62-1,L Thirimanne 1-0-7-0,T Paranavitana 2-0-10-0; Sri Lanka 2nd innings: T Paranavitana not out 2,L Thirimanne not out 4; Extras: w 1 1; Total: for no loss 7; Bowling: T Copeland 1-0-3-0,N Lyon 1-0-4-0.