England’s hopes of an unbeaten Test summer came crashing down at the Kia Oval as Pathum Nissanka’s unbeaten century handed Sri Lanka a deserved eight-wicket victory.
Eyeing a sixth straight win at home, and a first clean slate of wins at home since 2004, England were instead dealt a wake-up call after a lacklustre outing in South London.
The real damage had already been done with the bat, collapses of seven for 64 in their first innings and five for 26 in the second undermining England’s efforts, and an inexperienced bowling attack was unable to plug the gaps on day four.
Chasing 219 for their first win against England in a decade, Sri Lanka needed another 125 with nine wickets in hand and eased over the line in style.
Gus Atkinson made the solitary breakthrough on Monday morning as Nissanka took centre stage with a classy 127 not out.
England may wonder how they got themselves in such a bind after reaching 261 for three on the second morning, Ollie Pope’s hundred seemingly setting strong foundations once again, but they will reflect on a handful of reckless dismissals from top-order players.
For the tourists it was a memorable end to a taxing trip and their win will go down alongside other famous victories on these shores – here at the Oval in 1998, at Trent Bridge in 2006 and at Headingley in 2014.
Angelo Mathews scored 160 on that occasion in Leeds and the 37-year-old was with Nissanka at the close, a fitting coda for the long-serving veteran.
England knew they needed things to happen in a hurry to change the game in their favour but Sri Lanka did well to take the heat out of the early exchanges.
There were no real fireworks in the first hour but they added 43 runs, got Nissanka back into a steady rhythm and made sure the loss of Kusal Mendis did not deter them.
Mendis fell for 39 in the fifth over, tempted in by a short ball from Atkinson but failing to get enough on his hook. Shoaib Bashir was stationed at fine leg and leapt to take an outstanding catch, using every bit of his 6ft 4in frame to make up the necessary ground.
Nissanka proved less prone to a rush of blood and continued to chip away at an ever decreasing target. The rapid flow of boundaries that came on the third evening had dried to a trickle but the gentle pace played firmly into Sri Lanka’s hands.
Pope shuffled his deck but struggled to find a combination that worked. Josh Hull, wearing strapping on his thigh, was a yard off the pace in a gentle two-over spell that threatened little jeopardy and Bashir was offered just one over – at a cost of 10 – before being hooked.
Hull returned later for a final burst but it may be some time before the raw 20-year-old paceman gets another chance in the Test arena.
Chris Woakes was pressed back into service after a brief breather but twice drifted down leg as Sri Lanka topped up their tally with eight cheap extras.
England began to look increasingly hangdog as the Sri Lankans entered their victory lap, Nissanka bringing up his ton in just 107 deliveries before launching Olly Stone into the stands for a pair of celebratory sixes.
Nissanka offered up a tough chance which Bashir failed to get hands to but he had earned a slice of luck. He was the man to finish things off, leaning back to cut the spinner for four.
England bow out of a transitional summer where they have revamped the Test side with an injection of new blood with five comfortable wins and just one defeat but this was a reminder that results cannot be taken for granted.
England succumbed to an embarassing defeat against Sri Lanka at The Oval as the visitors chased down their 219-run target just two wickets down on day four
