Sri Lanka defeated England by eight wickets chasing down 219 runs at the Oval on Monday (September 9). Even though they lost the three-match series 1-2, the visitors will go back home with their heads held high as they created an all-time record as well in terms of chasing in England among Asian teams.
Thanks to Pathum Nissanka's sensational century in the fourth innings, Sri Lanka recorded the highest successful chase in England by any Asian team. Pakistan held the earlier record in this aspect having chased down 180 runs against Australia in Headingley 14 years ago in 2010. India had gunned down 173 runs against England at the Oval way back in 1971 and are still waiting for the current team to beat this record.
However, Sri Lanka put on a brave effort with the bat to chase down the score in One-Day style in just 40.3 overs with Nissanka remaining unbeaten on 127 runs off just 124 deliveries. This is also the fifth-highest score by a visiting batter in successful run-chases in England. Nissanka's 127* is the third-highest individual score for Sri Lanka in winning cause in the fourth innings.
Highest successful run-chases among Asian teams in England
Sri Lanka - 219 vs England in 2024
Pakistan - 180 vs Australia in 2010
India - 173 vs England in 1971
As for the Test match, Nissanka expectedly won the player of the match for his brilliant knock while Joe Root was named player of the summer for England for scoring 666 runs in six Test matches. "It’s been a good summer, we’ve played some good cricket. Always nice to contribute. It's what you pride yourself on as a senior player and as a batter. Great to see this team constantly finding new ways to look at the game and keep evolving and keep getting better.
"To see some new faces come in and put their best foot forward shows the depth that we've got within this format in English cricket. I feel good, you know how fickle this game is, you have to keep working. Try and work as hard as I can to get better. I love playing in this team, great lads, play some really exciting cricket.
"Turn up everyday wanting to get stuck in because of the way we go about it. Last few years have been the most enjoyable of my career and long may that continue. May the success of this team continue as well. I think we came up against different conditions in this game. As a team, we try to keep finding ways to put pressure on the opposition but unfortunately for us, it didn’t come off this game. We still stuck to our methods, there will be times when we get challenged and we need to find ways to get back into the game. It's an opportunity for us to learn and keep getting better," Root said in the post-match presentation.
