Watch cricket video highlights of Sri Lanka tour of England 2024. Third test between England vs Sri Lanka. Venue of the match will be The Oval.
On the third day at The Oval, Sri Lanka grabbed control of the third and final Test against England in a contest as unpredictable as the weather in south London. Following a terrible display on the first day of play, when their bowlers lost the toss and could not capitalize in ideal circumstances, Sri Lanka was forced to watch Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett shine through the overcast sky. The visitors were able to recover thanks to two sharp swing bowling passages on the second day, which took place in dim light, and on the third day, which was well lit.
But not before Jamie Smith had blasted England out of serious difficulty. Even so, Sri Lanka was losing the match by the time play was suspended due to poor light on Sunday evening, shortly before quarter to seven. However, the specifics around those pivotal points illuminate the picture of where this Test stands going into the last day. England were bowled out for an ordinary 325 after they were bowled out without a batter scoring more than 20, with the exception of Pope and Duckett. Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kamindu Mendis all reached fifty runs.
But none of them could push for a high score that would have put Sri Lanka ahead of England, who had a 62-run lead after the first innings. Then, with his series-best 35, a struggling Dan Lawrence appeared to be top-scoring for England’s second innings. However, Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando, with his devastating inswingers, held them in check, and Smith’s savage 67 off 50 balls made them the only home hitters to cross 12 on the third day.
Thus, with terrible light causing yet another early close, Sri Lanka needed to score 125 runs to win consolingly at 94 for 1. In Sri Lanka’s free-scoring fourth innings, Chris Woakes’ outstanding return catch removed Dimuth Karunaratne for just eight runs, but it was the only wicket to fall. Just before the light went out, Nissanka achieved his second half-century of the match from just 42 balls when he crushed a delivery from Josh Hull to the rope outside of mid-off. Kusal Mendis was also at 30 not out, while he remained undefeated at 53.
Despite a few brief stops for what seemed like sunshowers, Sri Lanka’s bowlers, headed by Vishwa, were moving the ball in what were by far the brightest conditions of the contest thus far. However, Smith turned the tables on England in the second innings, taking the batsman for the final 19 balls he faced and smashing out 20 runs in one over from Milan Rathnayake. England went from 82 for 7 to 140 for 8. England had extended their lead to 218 by the time Olly Stone was removed to give Kumara his fourth wicket.
Asitha Fernando had Shoaib Bashir caught behind by Nishan Madushka, who was replacing the injured Dinesh Chandimal. Duckett and Pope fell cheaply, and two early strikes had given Sri Lanka optimism during a morning session postponed due to inclement weather on the first two days. After hitting Asitha for six over long off, Lawrence skillfully cut through point for four two balls later. Though he had improved upon his previous series best by a single run, a Kumara delivery that went away late and caressed the bat’s edge before settling in Chandimal’s gloves undid him.
Vishwa came onto the field in the fifteenth over, and he nailed the third ball with a magnificent inswinging yorker that struck Joe Root squarely on the boot. Harry Brook faced criticism for his petty response to the way Sri Lanka attempted to annoy him by bowling outside off stump during the first innings. This time, in Vishwa’s subsequent over, he fell victim to another late inswinger that hit the front pad with pinpoint accuracy on the leg stump.
Woakes was caught behind by Kumara for a six-ball duck, but after injuring his lower back trying to stop a misdirected delivery from Kumara to Gus Atkinson, Chandimal had to be carried from the field. Rathnayake trapped Atkinson leg before wicket after he had faced 14 balls for his one before Smith gained the upper hand. Hull and Stone had earlier maintained England’s lead as Sri Lanka finished the day at 211 for 5, down by 114.
After dropping Dhananjaya on the second evening, Hull made up for it the next evening, catching the captain of Sri Lanka for 69 off his 11th delivery of the match, a pull effort that went off the top edge and into deep backward square. That set up a five-wicket collapse for 52 runs in 13.3 overs, shared by Hull, Stone, and Woakes. Atkinson was taken from the field to tend to a thigh injury, but he recovered enough to bowl in the fourth innings.
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