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On Monday, September 9, Sri Lanka made history by winning their first Test match in England in 10 years at the Oval in London, chasing down a target of 219 runs with eight wickets in hand, thanks to an undefeated match-defining hundred from Pathum Nissanka . This was only the fourth Test win for Sri Lanka in 21 matches in England after their first encounter on the English soil happened way back in 1984 at Lord’s in London.
Before today’s Test result, Sri Lanka last defeated England in a long format game in away conditions at Headingley in Leeds in 2014, with a 100-run margin, to take the two-match Test series 1-0, their only series win on English soil. The first Test victory for Sri Lanka against England in England came in the summer of 1998 when Muthiah Muralidaran took 16 wickets at the Oval in London to ensure a comprehensive 10-wicket win.
Muthiah Muralidaran was chief architect for Sri Lanka's first two Test wins in England in 1998 and 2006
In 2006, Muthiah Muralidaran was also in the thick of things, picking up 11 wickets during Sri Lanka’s second Test win against England in England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham with a margin of 134 runs. After the retirement of the Sri Lankan legend, his predecessors made history in 2024 by getting the better of England at the Oval in London, in a convincing fashion inside four days.
After setting a target of 219 runs for Sri Lanka to chase down, England never quite looked like in the Test match in the face of the attacking intent from Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis from the start of their innings. While Mendis was dismissed in the 30s, Nissanka kept his innings going, stitching together a 111-run stand for the third wicket with Mathews, to take Sri Lanka over the line for a great result, while completing his second hundred.
Despite the tough loss, England won the three-match series 2-1 against Sri Lanka after taking the first two Tests at Old Trafford in Manchester and Lord’s in London. Ollie Pope, who was the stand-in captain against Sri Lanka after an injury to Ben Stokes, received the silverware at the end of the Test series.
