Nissanka guides Lankans to first Test win in England in 10 years

Sri Lanka have earned only their fourth Test victory on English soil after an unbeaten century by opener Pathum Nissanka helped secure an eight-wicket win 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, having defeated the West Indies 3-0 in July.

Starting day four on 1-94 and requiring 125 more runs to win, the Sri Lankans needed barely two hours to complete the job in clinical fashion.

The platform was built on Sunday when they skittled England for 156 in just 34 overs and were given a victory target of 219.

Nissanka steered the chase with his second Test hundred, reaching three figures in 107 balls and finishing 127 not out as Sri Lanka reached 219 in 40.3 overs.

The diminutive opener, who struck 13 fours and two sixes, spread his arms wide and soaked in the applause inside a half-full ground after passing 100, then kissed his bat and looked to the sky. His other century was against the West Indies in 2021, his first year in the Test team.

The quality of his knock raised the question why he didn't start the first Test against England at Old Trafford last month, before he was recalled for the second match at Lord's.

Fittingly, it was Nissanka who scored the clinching runs with a cut for four. 

"It is very special, winning in England," Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva told the BBC. "The boys were tough enough to handle the pressure and get into some scenarios.

"It is not comfortable. There was hard work put in by the bowlers and batters. We were there in every match.

"Credit to all of the bowlers. They have been on target from ball one. In the second innings they were spot on. He (Nissanka) has proved he is the best opener in Sri Lanka right now."

The tourists' previous Test wins in England came in 1998 – that famous 10-wicket victory in a one-off Test at The Oval – as well as at Trent Bridge in 2006 and Headingley in 2014.

This latest one looked unlikely after they won the toss but couldn't capitalise on perfect bowling conditions on day one, which England ended on 3-221. It was all Sri Lanka after that, however, as England got sloppy and occasionally reckless.

"We felt we were in a really good position and were outplayed for the last day and a session," England captain Ollie Pope, standing in for the injured Ben Stokes for the series, said. "We didn't bat our best yesterday and didn't bowl our best.

"We would have liked to have 400 on board in that first dig but felt there was a fair bit in the wicket and we could bowl them out for a fair bit less than us.

"A few chances went down but that is cricket.

"We had a poor day three and credit to Sri Lanka as well. We weren't at our best but that was a brilliant knock from Nissanka as well. There are a couple of good lessons we can learn from day three."

The only wicket to fall on Monday 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. 

England now turn their attention to white ball cricket against Australia, starting with a T20 on Wednesday (3.30am Thursday AEST).