Angelo Mathews won the toss and for the third consecutive time in this series, Sri Lanka will bat first on a pitch expected to offer significant turn.
Australia's selectors reacted strongly to the losses in the first two Tests, dropping opener Joe Burns and No.3 Usman Khawaja, who have been key members of the batting order over the past year. Shaun Marsh has been named to open alongside David Warner, while allrounder Moises Henriques has been included for his first Test since the 2013 tour of India.
The decision means Australia have only four specialist batsmen, with Henriques listed at No.5 and Mitchell Marsh at No.6. That move would appear to be a significant gamble, given that Australia's batsmen are collectively averaging 16.32 in this series. Not since the 19th century have Australia finished a series of more than one Test with a lower collective average.
"We haven't had the results we would have liked here in Sri Lanka. We've picked a squad we think can play in these conditions," Australia's coach Darren Lehmann said. "Shaun and Mo are very good players of spin bowling, so they come into the side at the expense of Joe, who's unlucky, and Uz, who's unlucky.
"It's just the way it has been this tour, so we've got to try to change it around and change our fortunes and see how they go on these types of tracks. It's a tough call on those two younger guys but it's only for this Test match.
"We'll have a look going forward at home. It's different conditions. The way the wicket is, it's very dry, probably drier than the previous two. Let's see how they play and hopefully it's a good Test match."
Sri Lanka made only one change to the side that secured the series in Galle, with fast bowler Suranga Lakmal again fit and named for the first time in this series. Vishwa Fernando, who made his debut in Galle and claimed one wicket from just two overs, was dropped.
Sri Lanka 1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Kaushal Silva, 3 Kusal Perera, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Suranga Lakmal.
Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Adam Voges, 5 Moises Henriques, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Lyon, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Jon Holland.
(ESPN)
