ENG vs SL: The 3-match test schedule has been wrapped up, and England under stand-in skipper Ollie Pope won the series 2-1, as Sri Lanka avoided the clean sweep with their famous Kennington Oval victory.
England had prevailed in the Old Trafford first test, which saw Jamie Smith, Milan Rathnayake, Kamindu Mendis, and several other players performing wonderfully. However, despite all, England secured a victory in the opening game.
The next game at Lord’s was a one-man show as it was only Joe Root’s game, who scored dual centuries in both innings to achieve another personal milestone and also lead England to glory.
The third test was played at the Kia Oval, which saw England bat very well in their first innings as Duckett and skipper Pope led them to glory, as Pope made a record to enlist 7 test centuries against 7 different nations. Pope, with his 150+, led his position as a proper No. 3 batter.
This time around, the Lankan batters collapsed again in the first inning, as Hull and Woakes wreaked havoc until Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis posted a stunning partnership that ended as Sri Lanka could just score 263.
ALSO READ: Mark Wood has been ruled out for the rest of 2024 due to his elbow injury
England batters in response failed badly, as they were all-out for 156, despite the best innings played by Jamie Smith under pressure. His 67 was great down the order, which brought him to near comparison with Australian legend Adam Gilchrist.
Pathum Nissanka was the wonder man for Sri Lanka, as he scored 191 runs across both innings; he scored a quickfire half-century in the first game, while the next innings was where Nissanka scored a hundred, an unbeaten 127* that helped India secure the match.
Under Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka has had some considerable success, as under him the Lankans clean swept India in the ODI series, and now they have won a test at the Oval against England. This year in the WTC, Pakistan lost a series against Bangladesh, while Sri Lanka won a match at the oval, and lastly, the West Indies won a Test match against the Aussies at the Gabba.
