A few days ago, Sri Lanka, with some inspiring performances with the ball and bat, registered just their fourth Test win in England, two of which now have come at the Kennington Oval in South London. Despite losing the series by 2-1, it was a memorable moment for the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side with the eight-wicket victory.
On winning the toss, the visiting side decided to put the Ollie Pope’s men in under the grey skies, as the home side clubbed the inconsistent bowlers around the park to get a strong position in the game. But some brain-fading moments from the England team and some clinical show with the ball from Sri Lanka brought them back into the game.
In the fourth innings, the visiting opener, Pathum Nissanka, smashed an unbeaten 127-run knock in 124 balls with the help of 13 boundaries and a couple of sixes to carry his team over the line, chasing 219 runs with eight wickets in hand.
Sri Lanka players enjoy huge rise in ICC Test rankings
Kamindu Mendis, the young all-rounder for Sri Lanka, who has started his career with a fine touch, clubbed 64 runs in 91 deliveries in the first innings besides sharing a partnership of 127 runs for the sixth wicket with de Silva, who celebrated 69 runs in 111 deliveries with the help of 11 boundaries at a strike rate of 62.16.
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The captain of the visiting side gained three places to move 13th overall in the rankings in the longest format of the game among the batters to be the leading batter of the side.
Mendis, who finished the three-match series as the third-highest run-getter with 267 runs in five innings at an average of 53.40 and a strike rate of over 62 with the help of a couple of half-centuries and a 113-run knock in Manchester, gains six places to catch the 19th rank overall in the batting rankings.
Sri Lanka’s opener Nissanka, despite missing the first game of the series, ended as the fourth highest run-getter with 217 runs in four innings at an average of 72.33 and a strike rate of 100 with the help of one half-century and the unbeaten 127-run knock, takes a huge leap of 42 spots to touch the 39th place in the rankings.
England’s former captain, Joe Root, failed with 13 and 12 at the Oval but was successful in holding his top-rank spot. However, his rating has fallen from 922 to 899, which now allows the likes of Kane Williamson and Daryl Mitchell to give him a good fight. The same story continues with Harry Brook, who comes down seven places to reach 12th position with a score of 19 and three.
The expressive pacer of Sri Lanka, Lahiru Kumara, has gone up ten places to reach 32. He was part of the last two London games in the series, where he picked up 11 scalps in four innings at an average of 24.72 and a strike rate of 31.90, with the best figure of 4/21.
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Their premier pacer, Asitha Fernando, was the highest wicket-taker of the three red-ball games, with the help of 17 wickets in six innings at an average of 24.64 and a strike rate of 34.94 as he won his name at the Lord’s honors board, becoming just the second Sri Lanka pacer to celebrate the landmark.
Their next Test series will be at home, where the first of the two-match series against New Zealand begins on September 18 at the Galle International Stadium.