SL claim maiden Test win against England in a decade
Sri Lanka beat England in the third and final Test at the Kennington Oval in London. The visitors earned a famous win on Day 4 of the match. England scored 325 runs in their 1st innings, while Sri Lanka managed 263 runs thereafter. England were bundled out for 156 in their 2nd innings before SL chased down 219. Pathum Nissanka scored a ton.
Here's how the Test panned out
England rode on Ben Duckett's 86 and Ollie Pope's 154 to post 325 runs. For Lanka, Milan Rathnayake claimed 3/56. Notably, England lost 7 wickets for 64 runs. In response, Sri Lanka fought from a position of bother to post 263 runs. The Lankans then folded England for a paltry 156 with Lahiru Kumara taking a four-fer. SL successfully chased the score.
Ben Duckett smashes 86 for ENG
England batter Duckett hammered a solid 79-ball 86 against Sri Lanka on Day 1. Duckett's 86 was laced with nine fours and two sixes. He has raced to 1,828 runs from 26 matches (48 innings) at 39.73. Duckett slammed his 10th fifty in Tests. He owns three centuries. As per ESPNcricinfo, in three matches versus Sri Lanka, he owns 179 runs at 35.80.
Ollie Pope slams 154-run knock
England stand-in Test skipper Pope hammered a fine century on Day 1. Pope got to his ton off 102 balls. He resumed Day 2 on an unbeaten 103 and ended up with 154 runs from 156 balls. He smashed 19 fours and two sixes. Pope is now the first batter in history to get his first seven Test tons against different opponents.
Pope races to 2,881 runs
In 49 matches, Pope owns 2,881 runs at 35.13. In addition to 7 tons, he has clobbered 13 fifties. In three matches versus Sri Lanka, he owns 191 runs at 31.83. He scored 7 runs in the 2nd innings.
Dhananjaya de Silva slams his 17th Test fifty
Sri Lankan Test captain Dhananjaya hammered a 69-run knock in his side's 1st innings. Dhananjaya's 69 was laced with 11 fours. He consumed 111 balls. Playing his 57th Test (101 innings), Dhananjaya has raced to 3,786 runs at 40.70. This was his 17th fifty in Tests (100s: 12). Versus England, he owns 372 runs from six matches at 33.81 (50s: 5).
Kamindu Mendis scripts history with seventh 50-plus Test score
Kamindu slammed a 91-ball 64 in Sri Lanka's 1st innings. His knock had 7 fours. As per Cricbuzz, Kamindu has the joint-second-most 50-plus scores after the first six Tests. He shares the record with New Zealand's Bert Sutcliffe, England's Harry Brook, and Pakistan's Saud Shakeel. Only Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar (9) is ahead. Kamindu owns 695 runs at 77.22 (100s: 3, 50s: 4).
Nissanka smokes his first Test half-century in 2.5 years
Sri Lanka opener Nissanka scored a whirlwind half-century on Day 2. He batted with great intent and made 64 off just 51 balls. He smoked nine boundaries during his stay. Notably, this was his first Test half-century in nearly 2.5 years. Notably, Nissanka's last half-century in the format came way back in March 2022 against India.
Nissanka slams his second Test ton
Although Dimuth Karunaratne departed early, Nissanka continued to play his strokes in the run-chase. He took the Lankans past 100 along with Kusal Mendis. Nissanka raced to his ton, his second in the format, in the 35th over off just 107 balls. He propelled the Lankans to a famous win alongside Angelo Mathews. The duo added a century-plus stand.
Josh Hull claims three-fer on Test debut for England
England cricket team pacer Josh Hull picked up three wickets on Test debut. Hull, who dismissed Nissanka on Day 2, got the key wicket of Dhananjaya on Day 3 before dismissing Vishwa Fernando for a duck. Before his debut Test, Hull featured in 10 First-Class matches, claiming 16 wickets at 62.75. His economy rate was 4.91.
England's Jamie Smith smashes counter-attacking 67 against SL
England's Jamie Smith played a superb counter-attacking knock against Sri Lanka on Day 3. England were reduced to 82/7 before Smith got into the act and took England to 140/8 at Tea. Smith was dismissed for 67. Smith's 50-ball 67 was laced with 10 fours and a six. In six matches, Smith now owns 487 runs at 48.70 (50s: 3, 100s: 1).
280 runs versus Sri Lanka in this series
In the three matches versus the Lankans in this series, Smith amassed 280 runs at 46.66. Smith hit a century (111) in the first Test in Manchester. This was his maiden fifty. He owns an impressive strike rate of 76.08 in this series.
Massive records for Smith
As per Cricbuzz, Smith, who made his debut for England in the series against West Indies, owns the 3rd-most Test runs by a wicketkeeper in an English summer after 753 - Jonny Bairstow (2016) and 499 - Alec Stewart (1998). Smith now owns the second-most runs by a designated wicketkeeper in first six Tests after 571 by Leslie Ames (England, 1929-1931).
7,000 Test runs for Dimuth Karunaratne
Veteran opener Dimuth Karunaratne scripted history by becoming just the fourth Sri Lankan batter to complete 7,000 Test runs. He reached the milestone with his 1st run on Day 3. Karunaratne scored nine runs in the first innings. He managed eight runs in the 2nd innings. He is only behind Sri Lankan legends like Kumar Sangakkara (12,400), Mahela Jayawardene (11,814), and Angelo Mathews (7,734).
Here are his Test numbers
Playing his 94th Test, Karunaratne has raced past 7,000 runs (7,007) at 40.50. The tally includes 17 tons and 38 fifties. As per ESPNcricinfo, in 11 matches versus England, he has scored 620 runs at 29.52 (50s: 5). The veteran has amassed 2,857 runs at 31.05 in away Tests (home of opposition). He owns 504 runs at neutral venues, averaging 56.
Lankan pacers shine at The Oval
Lankan pacers did well at The Oval, taking all 10 wickets in England's 2nd innings in addition to eight scalps in the 1st innings. Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowlers. He took six scalps, including a four-fer. In 30 matches, he owns 96 wickets at 35.47. Vishwa Fernando and Milan Rathnayake bagged five wickets in the match. Asitha Fernando took three scalps.
Woakes is getting close to 600 FC wickets
Veteran England all-rounder Chris Woakes took two wickets in the first innings before claiming one wicket in the 2nd. He has raced to 598 wickets in First-Class cricket. 173 of his wickets have come in Test cricket for England.
250 catches for Root in FC cricket
After becoming the first England fielder to complete 200 catches during the Lord's Test, Root has now completed 250 catches in FC cricket. His catch of Kamindu in SL's 1st innings saw him attain the feat.
England's lowest all-out totals versus Sri Lanka in Tests
England's 156/10 in the 2nd innings is now their third-lowest all-out score versus Sri Lanka in Tests. 81 - Galle, 2007 148 - Colombo (SSC), 2003 156 - The Oval, 2024* 181 - The Oval, 1998 189 - Galle, 2001
Massive records attained by Sri Lanka
Asitha now owns the second-most wickets for Sri Lanka in a Test series in England. He claimed 17 wickets in this series. Muthiah Muralidaran's 24 scalps in the 2006 tour remains the highest. The Lankan seamers claimed 45 wickets in this Test series. It's the 2nd-most wickets by Sri Lanka seamers in a Test series after 52 scalps versus India at home in 1985.
SL secure a win against England after 10 years
After having gone 10 matches without a win against England in Tests, Sri Lanka finally secured victory. They ended a streak of 7 successive losses against England. Notably, SL's last win against England was in 2014 at Leeds.
