By Caroline Chepkorir

Sri Lanka secured its fourth test victory against England with an unbeaten century by opener Pathum Nissanka helped secure an eight-wicket win in the third and final match of the series at the Oval.

Sri Lanka targeted 219, and they achieved that for the loss of two wickets. Nissanka was 127 off 124 balls not out, and Angelo Mathews was 32 in 61. After a decade, Sri Lanka has just won their fourth test win in England and their first since a 100-run victory at Headingley.

Gus Atkinson caught Kusal Mendis for 39 runs thanks to Shoaib Bashir’s excellent hit. England chased 111 runs, and their hope was crushed by the partnership between Nissanka and Mathews.

England took this three-match series 2-1 after they won at Old Trafford and Lord’s, but they fell short of becoming a first-home campaign clean sweep since 2004. England is currently ranked the sixth trailing Sri Lanka in the 2023-2025 WTC table.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that England’s performances were disrespectful to Test Cricket and Sri Lanka. He also pointed out occasions in the recent past where England’s aggressive approach ended up costing England series wins.

“I felt that they disrespected Test cricket and disrespected Sri Lanka in the third Test by being over-aggressive with both bats and in their field place. England has made a bit of a habit of becoming a bit complacent after a good period. I think of the start of the Ashes or earlier this year in Rajkot, and I hope it serves as a wake-up call for the tougher Tests that lie in wait in 2025,” said Vaughan in media reports.

England has won eight of its 16 matches with a point percentage of 42.19%. Sri Lanka is scarcely ahead with 42.86% points. England had a terrible start, which will cost them their 2023-25 chance for the WTC. In the six tests that are left, even if England wins, they will still be up to 57.95% lead.

The next series is set to be in Pakistan in less than a month, and the international calendar resume on Wednesday when an entirely separate England team begins a T20 series against Australia.