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Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said Pathum Nissanka had proven himself to be the country’s “best batsman” after the opener’s superb century at the Oval helped the team end their 10-year wait for a Test win against England.
Nissanka made 127 not out as Sri Lanka reached the target of 219 runs before lunch on the fourth day, winning the third Test by eight wickets. England won the three-match series 2-1 after victories at Old Trafford (by five wickets) and Lord’s (by 190 runs).
The victory was a significant moment for Sri Lanka, whose last Test match against England was a 100-run success at Headingley in 2014.
“It’s one of the happiest moments of my career and my life,” de Silva said.
“We’ve had a tough time in the last couple of weeks so to come here and get a win in English conditions against an English team is a really good moment for me, my team and my country as well.”
The win was a personal triumph for Nissanka, who only returned to Test cricket after two years in exile at Lord’s. The 26-year-old was named player of the match after also making a superb 64 in Sri Lanka’s first innings at the Oval.
“As soon as he came in, he proved that he is the best batsman in Sri Lanka at the moment,” De Silva said.
England captain Ollie Pope meanwhile admitted his side had “shot themselves in the foot” after two poor batting performances cost them the chance of a first home Test clean sweep since 2004 after a rejuvenated side crushed the West Indies 3-0 earlier in the season.
Pope, on his home ground of Surrey, scored his first century since taking over as captain from the injured Ben Stokes at the start of this series.
Despite their 154, England fell from 261-3 to 325 all out in their first innings. Worse followed, as they were bowled out for a mere 156 in just 34 overs in the second innings.
– “We were not up to it” –
“It’s a disappointment, on the third day we shot ourselves in the foot,” Pope said.
“With the bat we weren’t good enough and in the second inning we weren’t up to par.”
When play resumed on Monday, Sri Lanka needed just 125 more runs to clinch victory, while England needed nine wickets.
Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson showed the strength of playing six Tests in a relatively short space of time, while 20-year-old duo Josh Hull and Shoaib Bashir never threatened to derail Sri Lanka’s run chase.
Atkinson, who was suffering from a quadriceps injury, was subsequently withdrawn from the one-day squad to face Australia, with Olly Stone taking his place.
Atkinson, a 26-year-old quick from Surrey, made his debut in England great James Anderson’s international farewell in July and has enjoyed a sensational start to his Test career, taking 34 wickets in six matches at an average of just 20.17.
Atkinson looks set to play a key role when England tour Pakistan next month, with his county colleague Pope saying: “Obviously some of our lads are suffering from a few little injuries but credit has to be given to them for the way they’ve coped and carried on.”
Joe Root, who broke Alastair Cook’s England record of 33 Test centuries with two hundreds at Lord’s, tried to put Monday’s defeat into context, telling the BBC: “I don’t think we’ve played our best cricket this week and that’s going to happen from time to time.
“Coldplay can’t be number one every week.”
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