Sri Lanka secured only its fourth Test victory on English soil with an impressive performance at The Oval on Monday. Opener Pathum Nissanka played a pivotal role, scoring an unbeaten century to guide Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win in the third and final Test of the series against England.
England won the series 2-1 but missed out on achieving a second clean sweep of their international summer. They had previously defeated the West Indies 3-0 in July.
Sri Lanka began Day 4 at 94-1, needing 125 more runs to win. They achieved this target in less than two hours of play. The foundation for the chase was set on Sunday when Sri Lanka dismissed England for 156 in just 34 overs, setting a victory target of 219.
Nissanka anchored the chase with his second Test hundred. He reached his milestone in 107 balls and remained unbeaten on 127 as Sri Lanka reached their target in 40.3 overs. His performance featured 13 boundaries and two sixes. After reaching his century, Nissanka celebrated by spreading his arms wide, kissing his bat, and looking skyward.
Nissanka’s quality innings raised questions about his absence from the first Test against England at Old Trafford last month. He was recalled for the second Test at Lord’s and made a significant impact.
Sri Lanka’s earlier Test triumphs in England include a notable 10-wicket victory at The Oval in 1998, along with wins at Trent Bridge in 2006 and Headingley in 2014. This latest win appeared unlikely after a poor start, but Sri Lanka capitalized on England’s sloppy play.
The only wicket to fall on the final day was that of Kusal Mendis, who scored 39 before being caught by Shoaib Bashir off a delivery from Gus Atkinson. Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten on 32, and his unbroken partnership with Nissanka added 111 runs for the third wicket.
