Pathum Nissanka’s superb unbeaten century guided Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win over England in the third Test at The Oval on Monday. Sri Lanka, set a target of 219, reached that total for the loss of two wickets before lunch on the fourth day, with opener Nissanka 127 not out and veteran Angelo Mathews 32 not out in an unbroken partnership of 111. Victory for Sri Lanka ended a run of seven straight Test defeats by England and was their first on English soil since 2014.

England, however, won the three-match series 2-1 following a five-wicket win at Old Trafford and a 190-run success at Lord’s.

Brief scores

England 1st innings: 325 (O Pope 154, B Duckett 86; M Rathnayake 3-56)

Sri Lanka 1st innings: 263 (D de Silva 69, P Nissanka 64, Ka Mendis 64; O Stone 3-35, J Hull 3-53)

England 2nd innings: 156 (J Smith 67; L Kumara 4-21, V Fernando 3-40)

Sri Lanka 2nd innings: 219-2 (P Nissanka 127 no)

Result: Sri Lanka won by eight wickets

Series: England win three-match series 2-1

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