Angelo Mathews, playing his 100th Test, batted aggressively and got a reprieve when Babar floored a sitter at cover when the batsman was on 36.
Prior to the series, Sri Lanka had not won a game in any format since October but become the first team from Asia to win a Test series in South Africa as they comfortably chased down a victory target of 197 on the third day.
Spin twins Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon combined to dismantle Sri Lanka and bowl Australia to a crushing victory by an innings and 242 runs in the opening Test in Galle on Saturday.
Vishwa Fernando bagged four wickets as Sri Lanka took the honours on day one of the first Test against South Africa by reducing their hosts to 235 all out at Kingsmead on Wednesday.
Bad light stopped play on day three with Karunaratne on 27 and Dhananjaya de Silva on 30.
Dinesh Chandimal smashed his second half-century of the match to put Sri Lanka in the box seat in the opening Test against Pakistan in Galle on Monday.
'We have seen the SLC statement, but are not privy to any information or intelligence report relating to safety of the SL team. The PCB reiterates its commitment to provide complete safety and security to the SL side and in this relation will continue to work with the SLC'
Sri Lanka's Twenty20 captain Lasith Malinga will not be part of the 24-member squad for the second residential training camp, starting June 22 in Kandy, it was announced on Thursday. A six-member unit of coaches and other support staff will work with the players during the camp at the Pallekele stadium.
Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood began his tenure with a 1-0 series victory against Bangladesh after the islanders won the second and final Test by 10 wickets on Friday.
NZ bowlers dismissed the tourists for 164 and reducing them to 113 for two, still 303 runs in arrear
Sri Lanka will arrive in South Africa on Saturday, with the first Test in Pretoria starting on Boxing Day. The second will be in Johannesburg from January 3.
A Daryl Mitchell century and a brilliant 72 from Matt Henry helped New Zealand to an unlikely first-innings lead of 18 runs before the home bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 83/3 at the end of the third day.
Kusal Mendis and captain Dimuth Karunaratne handed Sri Lanka a strong start in Day 1 of the first Test against New Zealand.
The first Test, played at the same venue, had also petered out into a predictable draw late on the final day.
Sri Lanka opening bowler Suranga Lakmal made early inroads, taking the wickets of John Campbell (5) and Nkrumah Bonner (0) in the morning session and piling on the pressure with six successive maidens.
Kane Williamson and Henry Nicholls both scored double centuries and shared a partnership of 363 as New Zealand flayed Sri Lanka's bowling to rack up an imposing 580/4 declared on the second day of the second Test.
Following in the footsteps of openers Abid Ali and Shan Masood, Azhar Ali and Babar Azam smashed centuries before Pakistan declared their second innings on 555-3.
Test cricket is set to Pakistan after a long wait of 10 years with Sri Lanka picking a full-strength squad for the two-match series next month.
The tourists reached the close at 42 for one in their reply, a deficit of 316 runs that they will seek to wipe out on a slow pitch on day three in the first match of a two-Test series.
Pakistan's teenage fast bowler Naseem Shah led the hosts' recovery against Sri Lanka on a riveting opening day as Test cricket returned to the country on Wednesday for the first time since a militant attack in 2009.
South Africa have slipped to number six in the world, behind fifth-placed Sri Lanka, and have a host of questions to answer, not least around a brittle top six and the balance of the side.
It all starts in Guwahati on Sunday as the biggest city in Assam is slowly getting back to normalcy after protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
South Africa's Quinton de Kock top-scored with a fluent 94 as they cruised to a 113-run victory over Sri Lanka and a 2-0 lead in their five-match One-day International series on Wednesday.
Abid hit 174 for his second hundred in as many Tests -- becoming the first Pakistani and ninth batsmen overall to score two centuries in his first two Tests.
Sri Lanka, who had conceded a 109-run lead, were bowled out for 113 in their second innings
Virat Kohli has held on to his fifth spot in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.
Chasing 476 for victory, Sri Lanka were all out for 212.
Sri Lanka ended the day at the score of 64/3, still trailing the hosts by 127 runs.
Dinesh Chandimal smashed a maiden double hundred and Prabath Jayasuriya claimed 12 wickets in a dream debut to script Sri Lanka's series-levelling victory by an innings and 39 runs in the second Test against Australia in Galle on Monday.
Chasing 164 to win, opener Zak Crawley was dismissed in the second session before Dom Sibley and Jos Buttler took the hosts to victory.
"It was tough up front, the Sri Lanka bowlers didn't give us much to work with," Markram told reporters.
South Africa remained on course for victory at the close at Kingsmead on Friday.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club World Cricket Committee, will skip its upcoming meeting at Lord's on August 11-12.
Fast bowler Dale Steyn took four wickets as South Africa seized control of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Day 2 and went to the close on 126 for four, an overall second innings lead of 170 runs.
Eighteen wickets fell on the second day, the most at this ground since 1914
Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal took four for 27 to set up Sri Lanka's 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first Test in Harare on Thursday.
The convincing win gave India an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Sarfraz Ahmed will continue as Pakistan captain at the World Cup in May despite serving a suspension for breaching the anti-racism code, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani said on Tuesday.
Root said that spinning tracks will throw challenges to the visiting team but they are adapting to the conditions quickly.
Openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan slammed quickfire half-centuries as India outclassed Sri Lanka by 78 runs in the third and final T20 International to win the three-match series 2-0, in Pune, on Friday. Images from the third T20 International between India and Sri Lanka, at Pune, on Friday.
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