Cricket: Sri Lanka clinch rare Test win in England

Sri Lanka have defeated England in the United Kingdom for just the fourth time, with the Asian nation triumphing by eight wickets in the final match of the sides’ three-Test series on Monday in London.

The winning runs came from the bat of Pathum Nissanka, who made an unbeaten 127 from 124 balls to guide his team to victory at The Oval.

Nissanka had help from Kusal Mendis (37 from 37) and Angelo Mathews (32 from 61) as Sri Lanka made 2/219 from 40.3 overs on day four of the third Test.

It is Sri Lanka’s first win over England in more than a decade and comes after the hosts had won their five previous Tests this summer, including the first two in this series.

Cricket betting sites put the visitors at long odds of +490 to win the final Test, with England paying just -833.33.

“One of the happiest moments in my career,” declared Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva, who made 69 runs in the first innings.

“We had a tough time in the last two Tests — to come back here and get a win, it is very good for me and my team and my country.

“It’s a good moment. We go back home, we can beat other teams in our home conditions.”

English captain Ollie Pope was understandably less pleased with how the Test unfolded.

“Disappointing, the third day we shot ourselves in the foot,” he said.

“They bowled well, credit to them, but we weren’t at our best.

“I wouldn’t say complacent, it has been a long summer.

“We came out with the same intentions, but we didn’t capitalise on having a first-innings lead.

“One of those days where it didn’t come off.

“We played some good cricket during the series, we’ll look back on that performance.”

England do not have much time to reflect, as they now switch to white-ball cricket for three T20Is and five ODIs against Australia.

The T20 series kicks off on Wednesday, with England slight underdogs at +120 with BetOnline to beat the Aussies (-166.67) in Southampton.

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