Sri Lanka secured their first Test victory on English soil in ten years with a decisive eight-wicket triumph over England at The Oval in a thrilling finale to the third Test.
Sri Lanka successfully chased down a goal of 219, won the match before midday on the fourth day, driven by an undefeated century from Pathum Nissanka.
After ten years of waiting for a Test match victory in England, Sri Lanka finally won on Monday at The Oval thanks to a brilliant century from Pathum Nissanka. Before noon on the fourth day, Sri Lanka, having set a goal of 219, surpassed that total for the loss of two wickets, thanks to an uninterrupted 111-run partnership between Nissanka (127 not out) and Angelo Mathews (32 not out).
With the victory, Sri Lanka won just their fourth Test match in England and their first since a century-run triumph at Headingley in 2014. But following victories at Lord’s (190 runs) and Old Trafford (five wickets), England won this three-match series 2-1.
However, the setback meant that England, who had thrashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier in the season, would not be able to complete a home campaign clean sweep since Michael Vaughan’s seven-match winning streak in 2004.
After scoring 64 in the opening innings and winning player-of-the-match, Nissanka spoke to Sky Sports, saying, “It was a great opportunity to play in England and I enjoyed that innings.” “After two years away from the Test team, I simply wanted to play my normal game, and I have done that,” the opener continued.
Dhananjaya de Silva, the captain of Sri Lanka, was undebted about the significance of leading his team to just their fourth victory in 21 Test matches in England.
“This is one of the happiest moments in my career and my life,” stated De Silva. “We had a tough time in the last two weeks so to come here and get a win in English conditions against an English team, it is a very good moment for me, my team, and my country as well.”
Resuming on 94-1, Sri Lanka was already in a strong position to break England’s string of seven consecutive Test losses. Recalled at Lord’s, Nissanka was 53 not out and Kusal Mendis was undefeated at 30.
But when Mendis hooked a bouncer from Gus Atkinson to fine leg, Shoaib Bashir, who was doing a good job of sighting the ball on a dark morning, held an outstanding low catch diving to his left, adding just nine runs to his total.
With Mathews coming in to bat, Sri Lanka was now 108-2 after he had scored a spectacular 160 in their victory at Headingley ten years earlier. With Sri Lanka making strong ground against the quicks at 137-2, England skipper Ollie Pope brought on off-spinner Bashir.
But Bashir let up 10 runs in an over very quickly, with Nissanka dragging a ball down to square leg and Mathews sweeping four more.
After hitting a three-ball off Atkinson through point, the small Nissanka finished with a fantastic 107 balls, 11 fours, and a century. After reaching the milestone, Nissanka hit two sixes off quick bowler Olly Stone.
Nissanka, who had already exceeded his previous highest Test score of 103 against the West Indies at North Sound in 2021, concluded the match by cutting Bashir for four.
England lost numerous good positions, including their first innings collapse from 261-3 to 325 all out despite Pope scoring 154, his first century since replacing the injured Ben Stokes as captain at the beginning of the series.
In reply, they let Sri Lanka recover from 93-5 to 263; after tea on a dismal second day, Pope launched an all-spin attack. 62 runs was England’s first-inning lead.
The second time around, though, their top-order batted as though they had double that lead, and England collapsed dramatically to 82-7 before being bowled out for 156 in just 34 overs on Sunday.
Lahiru Kumara got 4-21, while Vishwa Fernando, a left-arm swing bowler, took 3-40, including the highly valuable scalp of Joe Root for just 12.
Sri Lanka needed to chase more than 200 to win, but only thanks to a counterattacking 67 off 50 balls, which included 10 fours and a six, from wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
“It’s disappointing not to be on the right side of the result,” remarked Pope. “We pretty much shot ourselves in the foot on day three, which was Sunday.
“We didn’t perform to our best; Sri Lanka deserves praise.” Nissanka deserved to win this Test because of their excellent play.”