England vs Sri Lanka, 3rd Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

So the talk of winning all 6 Tests in the summer doesn't come to pass for England but they will be happy with 5-1. And more importantly they have won two Tests without Stokes. Also they have given chances to youngsters like Josh Hull as they look to build a pace battery for the 2025-2026 Ashes in Australia. That's Baz McCullum and Stokes' goal as they look for the big prize down under. Joe Root continues to churn out hundreds for fun and England look a very strong Test outfit despite the loss here in this game. As forr as Sri Lanka, they've claimed a historic win here - just their 4th on English soil and first in a decade - and they can be mighty proud of their achievements. They have talent and with the likes of Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis in the lineup and they are young batters who look classy. Sri Lanka's pace attack is not to be taken lightly either. On that note we wind up our coverage of this game and the end of the England Test summer. We still have 8 white-ball games here in England as Australia are next. We will be there to bring you all the action from those games. Till then take care, be well and sleep tight. Bye bye for now.

Ollie Pope | England Captain: Disappointing not to be on the right side of the result. Day 3 we probably shot ourselves in the foot. Credit to Sri Lanka, they bowled really well and credit to Nissanka for the way he played. They deserved to win. I don’t think it was complacency at all, it has been a long summer but that has nothing to do with this loss. We came out with the same intent. It was just one of those games that it didn’t come off, we’ve played some really good cricket throughout the series but we’ll take a look at that Day 3 and reflect on it. We’ve got that balance right and we’ve been clinical in crucial times. Credit to Gus (Atkinson) and Chris Woakes, six from six this summer, when they come back to back it’s not easy for the fast bowlers. There were not complaints from them, they just cracked on. (On why he didn’t bowl Bashir more) The pitch had been swinging and seaming throughout, there was one rough patch outside the off stump but playing here at The Oval it’s about swing and seam and that’s what we felt was our best option. We got some good learnings from this week, we’re 5 wins from 6 Test matches. Credit to Sri Lanka as well, they pushed throughout the series. But we’ll look back on the summer and be proud. (On captaincy) I’ve loved it, when Stokesy is back fit, he’ll be hopping back in. It’s got its challenges but I’ve loved it in the last two weeks. I felt like there’s a fair few voices over the last few weeks but it was nice to block that out, play my game and get some runs. Would’ve been nicer if it came in a winning cause but was still nice to get some runs. Overall, happy with how I dealt with all the noise about me being captain and having a couple of poor games.

Dhananjaya de Silva | Sri Lanka captain: For now there was no emotion?in the team but it's one of the happiest moments in my career. [on if he knew about Sri Lanka's win here in 1998] Not at all. We had a tough time in the last two weeks and to come back here and get a win against English conditions and the England?team is great, taking the 20 wickets and that's what I have been talking to the boys and they were up to it. [on Nissanka] I wanted him in the team, but only 11 can play and the moment he came in, he proved he is the best batsman in Sri Lanka right now. We have a fixed batting lineup in Tests and it's hard to get in a new batter and Kamindu was scoring runs in domestic so we had to get him in and here they are doing well. When we go back home, in the back of our minds, we got a win in England, so we can beat the others.

Kamindu Mendis | Sri Lanka's Player of the Series: It's a good win, in these conditions the team did really well especially the seamers and Pathum did really well today. In these conditions you have to face difficult situations and I enjoyed it. I just did small changes, not big ones, even in the first Test I did a small change. It's not a big deal but if you are confident in your ability, it's the most important thing. It was challenging when seamers came around the wicket so I moved to off-stump after the 1st game. In England it is always a challenge to face the seamers but sometimes it can happen that you can get caught in the slips or the keeper. I'm happy whatever the team asks me to do, but at the end of the day what I do to the team, whatever the position I play in, I will be OK.

Joe Root | Player of the Summer, England’s Player of the Series: 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 stick 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.

Pathum Nissanka | Player of the Match (translated from Sinhalese by Kandamby): It was a great opportunity to play in England. Enjoyed that innings. It was slightly difficult in the morning but I had a positive mindset and went with that. Just wanted to play my normal game.

While England floundered this time around, they were pretty flawless over the course of the summer. Some of their selections were subject to widespread debate but by the end of the summer, most if not all of those decisions have been vindicated. Jamie Smith is perhaps the find of the season. He’s shown incredible maturity and looks like he simply belongs to the international stage. Gus Atkinson’s had an incredible two months as well, loads of wickets and a century at Lord’s. Josh Hull probably didn’t really get enough time to show everything he’s got but he was pretty decent too. Considering they lost their first-choice opener in Crawley and their skipper in Stokes halfway through, England can still be pretty pleased with their achievements. While it might not be the perfect and undefeated summer they were after, they got pretty damn close.

The scoreline might still say 2-1 to England but Sri Lanka can be very proud of what they’ve achieved both in this game and on the tour. Many expected England to walk all over Sri Lanka once more and finish the summer without a blot. Sri Lanka, though, turned up and showed incredible tenacity. In the process, they’ve unearthed some great talents as well. Kamindu Mendis has drawn heaps of praise for his performances in the series and Pathum Nissanka, brought back into the side, played with incredible freedom and made a strong statement. Milan Rathnayake was another revelation as well. He not only was consistent with the ball but also scored some crucial runs down the order. If anything, Sri Lanka’s middle order probably needs some work but they’re looking like a pretty competent side.

Stats round-up by Roshan Gede

Most Player of the Series awards in Tests for England
6 - Joe Root
5 - Graham Gooch
5 - Andrew Strauss
5 - James Anderson

Highest successful-run chases by Asian teams in England
219 - SL vs ENG, The Oval, 2024
180 - PAK vs AUS, Headingley, 2010
173 - IND vs ENG, The Oval, 1971
148 - PAK vs ENG, The Oval, 2010
138 - PAK vs ENG, Lord’s, 1992
This is also Sri Lanka’s second successful 200-plus run-chase in Tests outside the subcontinent after their thrilling one-wicket win (target: 352) against South Africa in Durban in 2019.

Sri Lanka’s Test wins in England
By 10 wickets - The Oval, 1998
By 134 runs - Trent Bridge, 2006
By 100 runs - Headingley, 2014
By 8 wickets - The Oval, 2024

Highest run-rates in a Test match
4.93 - PAK vs IND, Lahore, 2006
4.77 - SA vs AUS, Johannesburg, 1902
4.73 - ENG vs IRE, Lord’s, 2023
4.69 - ENG vs SL, 2024
4.54 - ENG vs BAN, Chester-le-Street, 2005

Highest run-rates in a successful 200-plus chase in Tests
5.98 - ENG vs NZ, Trent Bridge, 2022
5.77 - ENG vs SA, The Oval, 1994
5.47 - NZ vs BAN, Wellington, 2017
5.44 - ENG vs NZ, Headingley, 2022
5.40 - SL vs ENG, The Oval, 2024

Visiting batters with 100s in successful run-chases in England
214* - Gordon Greenidge (WI), Lord’s, 1984
182 - Arthur Morris (AUS), Headingley, 1948
173* - Don Bradman (AUS), Headingley, 1948
154* - Graeme Smith (SA), Edgbaston, 2008
127* - Patthum Nissanka (SL), The Oval, 2024
118* - Shai Hope (WI), Headingley, 2017
108* - Conrad Hunte (WI), The Oval, 1963

Match-winning 4th innings Test tons for Sri Lanka
153* - Kusal Perera vs SA, Durban, 2019
143* - Aravinda de Silva vs ZIM, Colombo (SSC), 1998
127* - Pathum Nissanka vs ENG, The Oval, 2024
123 - Mahela Jayawardene vs SA, Colombo (PSS), 2006
122 - Dimuth Karunaratne vs NZ, Galle, 2019

Hundreds at over run-a-ball in successful Test chases
136(92) - Jonny Bairstow (ENG) vs NZ, Trent Bridge, 2022
127*(124) - Pathum Nissanka (SL) vs ENG, The Oval, 2024
122*(122) - Justin Langer (AUS) vs NZ, Hamilton, 2000
104*(90) - Kane Williamson (NZ) vs BAN, Wellington, 2017
101*(85) - Matthew Hayden (AUS) vs ZIM, Sydney, 2003

13:05 Local Time, 12:05 GMT, 17:35 IST: This is truly a remarkable win for Sri Lanka, just their 4th in England and they can go back home with their heads held high. On the flip side, it’s a bit of an embarrassing loss for England and their summer ends with a blemish. Amidst all the hubris, they got a little ahead of themselves and were quite careless and casual at times. They were in strong positions twice in this game - first when they ended Day 1 on 221/3 and again when they’d claimed a 62-run first innings lead - and managed to bungle up on both occasions to hand back the advantage. Their batting, particularly in the second innings, was quite callous to the situation and it was as if they were caught in delinquent frenzy while throwing their wickets away. To Sri Lanka’s credit, they seized the opportunity and held their nerve despite a lapse permitting a remarkable fightback from Jamie Smith. It left them with 219 to chase in the final innings and no Asian side had chased that many in the fourth innings of a Test in England. That’s when Sri Lanka really put their foot down and took a firm command of the narrative. Led by a glorious century from Pathum Nissanka, Sri Lanka started by mercilessly tearing into England’s attack at the end of the third day before adopting a more measured approach the next day to see themselves home without any real hiccups.

Bashir to Nissanka, FOUR, fittingly Nissanka finishes it off. A historic win for Sri Lanka and a well-deserved win too. They have been the better side in this game. England run out of steam after 5 wins in a row in the summer. Was a flat delivery outside off, Nissanka wanted to use his feet initially but then seeing the length, rocks back and cuts wide of backward point, runs away. Big beaming smiles from Nissanka and Mathews as they walk off

Bashir to Nissanka, no run, flat good length outside off, Nissanka goes on the back foot to defend

Bashir to Mathews, 1 run, good length outside off, nudged to square leg for one

Josh Hull to Nissanka, no run, back of a length on middle, defended back solidly

Josh Hull to Nissanka, FOUR, more good batting. It's short of length outside off, Nissanka punches firmly and wide of cover, races away

Josh Hull to Mathews, 1 run, short outside off, pulled hard and straight to deep mid-wicket

Josh Hull to Mathews, no run, short outside off, left alone and it loops to Jamie Smith

Josh Hull to Nissanka, 1 run, back of a length on leg-stump, turned in front of square leg and a quick single taken