INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sri Lanka earned only its fourth test victory on English soil after an unbeaten century by opener Pathum Nissanka helped secure an
eight-wicket win in the third and final match of the series against England at The Oval on Monday.England won the series 2-1 but missed out
on a second clean sweep of its international summer, having defeated the West Indies 3-0 in July.Starting Day 4 on 94-1 and requiring 125
more runs to win, the Sri Lankans needed barely two hours to complete the job in clinical fashion
The platform was built on Sunday when they skittled England for 156 in just 34 overs and were given a victory target of 219.Nissanka
underpinned the chase with his second test hundred, reaching three figures in 107 balls and finishing 127 not out as Sri Lanka got to 219 in
40.3 overs.The diminutive opener, who struck 13 fours and two sixes, spread his arms wide and soaked in the applause inside a half-full
ground after passing 100, then kissed his bat and looked to the sky
His other century was against the West Indies in 2021, his first year in the Sri Lankan test team.The quality of his knock raised the
It was all Sri Lanka after that, however, as England got sloppy and occasionally reckless.The only wicket to fall on Monday was that of
Kusal Mendis (39), who pulled a delivery from Gus Atkinson and saw Shoaib Bashir take a diving catch in the deep.Angelo Mathews was unbeaten
on 32 alongside Nissanka at the end, with the pair putting on 111 runs in an unbroken stand for the third wicket.Source: AP--Agencies
