ENGLAND VS SRI LANKA, 3RD TEST, KENNINGTON OVAL, LONDON REVIEW : Nissanka’s Ton Sparked an 8-Wicket Sri Lankan Victory Over England in 3rd Test .
Pathum Nissanka’s impressive and unbeaten century led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory over England in the third Test at The Oval on Monday. Set a target of 219, Sri Lanka reached that goal with just two wickets down before lunch on the fourth day—Nissanka was not out at 127, and veteran Angelo Mathews was unbeaten on 32, together forming an unbroken partnership of 111. Nissanka’s Ton Sparked an 8-Wicket Sri Lankan Victory Over England in 3rd Test .
Toss –
Sri Lanka chose to bowl first.
Teams Line Up –
England playing XI:
Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook (vice-captain), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Josh Hull, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka playing XI:
Dhananjaya De Silva (captain), Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Milan Rathnayake, Vishwa Fernando
DAY 1 –
Play stopped for nearly three hours. There was debate whether the light or rain was severe enough for such a long delay. Once back on the field though—Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope made sure it rained runs instead. They built a strong partnership of 95 after Dan Lawrence failed as an opener again in Zak Crawley’s absence due to injury.
Duckett had a solid knock of 86 from just 79 balls before falling in the afternoon. Joe Root followed soon with just 13 off 48 balls.
Pope scored his seventh Test century against as many different teams—a first in this sport. This came under immense pressure after four failures as he stood in for injured captain Ben Stokes.
With Pope unbeaten on 103 from as many balls—there were boos and slow claps from the crowd at Kia Oval as umpires took players off due to bad light for a second time that day.
DAY 2 –
England collapsed dramatically—they lost six wickets for just 35 runs in only 56 balls. Poor shot choices & falling into traps set by Sri Lankan bowlers contributed greatly. But undeniably—the visitors stepped up their game showing patience & control while getting the ball to swing more effectively.
Pope extended his brilliant score from day one—moving from 103 not out to finally finish at 154. But apart from him—and Duckett—not one English batter scored beyond twenty runs.
Nissanka achieved a fine fifty by hitting Hull for four through mid-off—a total of seven boundaries within forty balls! The tall left-arm quick Hull (standing at about two meters) then claimed his first Test wicket by removing Nissanka on sixty-four—an excellent catch by Woakes diving at cover followed suit leading Stones trapping Chandimal lbw without score making things worse reducing them down further till Ninety-Three/Five initially…
Things looked bleak yet Captain Dhananjaya de Silva along with Kamindu Mendis frustrated England—they staged an unbroken century stand worth hundred-eighteen runs making sure they closed early even though play halted once more due bad light ending positions –211–5 slightly moving things better side evening session test match continues later days keep watching keep updated more events occurring further!
Day 3-
England’s second innings started aggressively, but early wickets derailed them. Ben Duckett, who scored 86 in the first innings, fell cheaply for 7, mistiming Asitha Fernando’s delivery to mid-on. Lahiru Kumara struck before lunch, bowling Ollie Pope, England’s first-innings centurion, for 13.
England’s collapse began after they lost Lawrence post-lunch as the opener seemed jittery after play resumed. Viswa Fernando turned the game around by dismissing Joe Root and Harry Brook rapidly, leaving the hosts struggling at 69 for 5.
The responsibility then rested on Smith. He played impressively, scoring 67 from 50 balls and taking the score to 140 runs. The rest didn’t offer much resistance as England were bundled out for 156 runs, setting Sri Lanka a target of 219.
Lahiru Kumara picked up figures of 4 wickets for 21 runs & Viswa Fernando took 3 for 40 as Sri Lanka were left needing 219 runs to win the match.
A quickfire unbroken partnership between Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis put Sri Lanka in command against England in the third and final Test at The Oval. Pathum Nissanka’s brilliant unbeaten fifty left Sri Lanka eyeing a memorable win over England as the third Test at The Oval headed for a dramatic finish.
Dimuth Karunaratne was caught and bowled by Chris Woakes for eight when a drive ballooned off his pad.
Sri Lanka were at 94-1 when bad light led to an early close on Sunday’s third day; they needed another 125 runs to reach a victory target of 219 that would end a run of seven successive Test defeats by England.
Day-4
Starting Day four on 94-1 and requiring only an additional 125 runs to win, Sri Lanka took barely two hours to complete the job in clinical fashion. Nissanka anchored the chase with his second test hundred, reaching three figures in just 107 balls and finishing unbeaten on 127 as Sri Lanka reached their target of 219 in just over forty overs.
The sole wicket to fall on Monday was that of Kusal Mendis (39), who pulled a delivery from Gus Atkinson with Shoaib Bashir taking a diving catch in the deep. Angelo Mathews remained unbeaten on thirty-two alongside Nissanka at the end; together they put on an unbroken stand worth one-hundred-eleven runs for the third wicket.
The quality of his innings raised questions about why he didn’t start in the first test against England at Old Trafford last month before being recalled for the second test at Lord’s.
Sri Lanka secured only its fourth test victory on English soil after opener Pathum Nissanka’s undefeated century led them to an eight-wicket win in the series’ third & final match against England at The Oval on Monday. Nissanka’s Ton Sparked an 8-Wicket Sri Lankan Victory Over England in 3rd Test .
England did win the series two-one but missed out on achieving another clean sweep this summer after defeating West Indies three-nil back in July.
Brief scores:
England: First Innings -325 (Ollie Pope –154; Milan Rathnayake –3/56) & Second Innings -156 (Jamie Smith –67; Lahiru Kumara –4/21).
Sri Lanka: First Innings -263 (Dhananjaya de Silva –69; Olly Stone –3/35) & Second Innings -219/2 (Pathum Nissanka –127*, Kusal Mendis –39).
Result: Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.