Sri Lanka beat England for 4th Test victory on English soil

Sri Lanka got their fourth Test victory on English soil securing an eight-wicket win with the assistance of an unbeaten century by opener Pathum Nissanka in the third and final match of the series against England at The Oval.

England won the series 2-1 but missed out on a second clean sweep of their international summer, after they defeated the West Indies 3-0 in July.

With the Sri Lankans starting Day 4 on 94-1 and requiring 125 more runs to win, they completed the job in barely two hours. The foundation was laid the previous day when they took out England for 156 in just 34 overs and were given a victory target of 219.

Nissanka strengthen the chase with his second test hundred, reaching it in 107 balls, finishing on 127 not out as Sri Lanka got to 219 in 40.3 overs. He struck 13 fours and two sixes, spreading his arms wide after passing 100, then kissed his bat and looked to the sky.

Nissanka only other century was against the West Indies in 2021, his first year in the Sri Lankan Test team.

After they won the toss but couldn’t capitalize on perfect bowling conditions on Day 1, which England ended on 221-3.

England’s Joe Root in action as he plays a shot off the bowling of Sri Lanka’s Milan Rathnayake before being caught out by Pathum Nissanka. Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers

It was all Sri Lanka after that, as England got sloppy and occasionally reckless.

The only wicket to fall was that of Kusal Mendis (39), who pulled a delivery from Gus Atkinson and saw Shoaib Bashir take a diving catch in the deep.

Angelo Mathews was unbeaten on 32 alongside Nissanka at the end, with the pair putting on 111 runs in an unbroken stand for the third wicket.