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On Monday, September 9, Sri Lanka recorded a rare Test win against England at The Oval as they chased their target of 219 runs on the fourth day of the game. The win was their only fourth Test win on English soil, and one name that guided the South Asian side to the victory was Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka. Nissanka came with a stellar century to help the guests secure an eight-wicket win over their counterpart in the third and the final match of the series.
While England won the series 2-1 , but stand-in captain Ollie Pope and his men missed out on a second clean sweep of its international Test summer. The fourth day of the match started with Sri Lanka looming on 94-1, requiring 125 more runs to win. Earlier, they had skittled out England for 156 in just 34 overs to get an easy target of 219 runs.
Pathum Nissanka comes up with 127* to help Sri Lanka win
Sri Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka played a crucial role in helping the side complete the chase. Nissanka came up with his second Test hundred, and reached three figures in just 107 balls and stood by the side till the end to finish at 127* as Sri Lanka got to 219 runs in just 40.3 overs. Nissanka hit 13 fours and two sixes and celebrated his hundred in style after crossing the 100-run mark.
Notably, Sri Lanka’s previous Test wins in England came in 1998, where they had taken down their rivals by a margin of 10 wickets in a one-off Test at The Oval as well as at Trent Bridge in 2006 and Headingley in 2014.
It is very special, winning in England: Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva
After the win, Sri Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva expressed his happiness and said that registering a win in England is special. De Silva told BBC, “ It is very special, winning in England. 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 and had positive points. The boys wanted to win in the end.”
He added, “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. ”
