Sanga,” said Mathews. “We will need to take on the challenge and move on.”
Younis, who made his 100th Test appearance in the second match, ended the game just 19 runs away from surpassing Javed Miandad’s tally of 8,832 runs to become Pakistan’s leading scorer in Tests.
Pakistan added 25 runs to their overnight score when they lost the wicket of Shan Masood, who was stumped by Dinesh Chandimal off Tharindu Kaushal for 125.
The Kuwait-born left-hander’s maiden Test century came during a third-wicket stand of 242 with Younis after Pakistan had been reduced to 13-2 on Monday afternoon.
Misbah said Younis had told the team a win was possible because the wicket was not providing assistance to the bowlers.
“Both Younis and Masood took the game away from Sri Lanka. And Yasir (Shah) has been so good in this series. I am glad the youngsters are doing so well for the team.”
Leg-spinner Yasir was named man of the series for his 24 wickets in the three Tests. Younis was adjudged the man of the match.
The 37-year-old Younis, who came to bat after the fall of the second wicket, remained rock solid at one end during a seven-hour vigil in which he hit 18 boundaries.
Younis’ five hundreds in the fourth innings — in a career tally of 30 — are the most by any batsman.
Misbah provided able support during a 127-run stand with Younis, mixing caution with aggression which fetched him eight fours and a six.
Sri Lanka missed the experience of left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who was not selected, as young off-spinner Kaushal was hammered for 153 runs in his 31 overs. Pakistan had won the first Test in Galle by 10 wickets and Sri Lanka took the second in Colombo by seven wickets.
The two teams will now play a limited-overs series of five one-day internationals, followed by two Twenty20 games, from Saturday.
Score Board
Pakistan won toss
Sri Lanka 1st innings 278 all-out (F Karunaratne 130; Yasir 5-78)
Pakistan 1st innings 215 all-out (Sarfraz Ahmed 78; Pradeep 3-29)
Sri Lanka 2nd innings 313 all-out (A Mathews 122; Imran 5-58)
Pakistan 2nd innings
Shan Masood st Chandimal b Kaushal 125
Ahmed Shehzad b Lakmal 0
Azhar Ali c Chandimal b Prasad 5
Younis Khan not out 171
*Misbah-ul-Haq not out 59
Extras (b 5, lb 10, w 2, nb 5) 22
Total (3 wickets; 103.1 overs) 382
Did not bat: Asad Shafiq, †Sarfraz Ahmed, Ehsan Adil, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan
Fall: 1-0, 2-13, 3-255
Bowling: Prasad 20-2-65-1 (1nb, 1w); Lakmal 19-5-48-1 (3nb); Pradeep 17-3-51-0 (1w); Mathews 13-2-34-0 (1nb); Kaushal 31-1-153-1; Mubarak 3.1-0-16-0
Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets
Series: Pakistan won the 3-match series by 2-1
Man of the Match: Younis Khan (Pakistan)
Man of the Series: Yasir Shah (Pakistan)
Umpires: I J Gould (England) and P R Reiffel (Australia). TV umpire: S Ravi (India). Match referee: B C Broad (England)