LISTICLE
Follow UsOn Monday (September 9), Sri Lanka added yet another win to their tally on English soil. They beat the hosts by 8 wickets, chasing down 219 at The Oval with ease. But this was only their fourth win in England in Tests since they first toured the nation in 1981-82.
Here’s when and how their four wins came.
1998: Jayasuriya, de Silva and Murali guide Lanka to first win in England
The first win for the Sri Lankan side in England came in 1998 at The Oval. It was the only Test of the tour and the Lankan side, which had previously played three Tests in the English country and been unable to win any, finally got the maiden win. Destructive Sanath Jayasuriya and steady Aravinda de Silva were the heroes of the game for the Islanders.
Jayasuriya hit his first double-century. He had previously amassed a triple century against India, but his 213 against the English was his first double ton. Thanks to this and 152 by de Silva, the Lankans posted 591. This was in response to England’s first innings total of 445.
Mutthiah Muralitharan turned out to be too hot to handle for the English in the second innings, as they were bowled out for 181. Murali picked 9/65, and the Lankans chased down 36 with all ten wickets intact.
2006: Murali magic on display in Nottingham
It took Sri Lanka eight years to win their second game in England. This time, the team was led by Mahela Jayawardene as they faced the English in a three-match series. In Nottingham, trailing 0-1 in the series after having lost the second Test, the Lankans made a comeback in fine style.
Batting first, Sri Lanka could only score 231 after some disciplined bowling by the likes of Jon Lewis and Andrew Flintoff, who picked three wickets each. However, Muralitharan made sure that the English did not run away with the game and took 3/65 to bowl them out for 229, making it even stevens after the end of the first innings for both teams.
Apart from Murali, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, and Jayasuriya, each took two wickets for the island nation.
The game changed in the second innings as the Lankans, with the help of useful fifties from Kumar Sangakkara (66) and Chamara Kapugedara (50), reached 322 and set England a massive target of 325 to win.
It was Murali, the magician, at work again as he picked 8/70 in the fourth innings, and the hosts were bowled out for 190, losing the game by 134 runs.
Dhammika, Mathews lead Lanka to win at Leeds, 2014
The third win for the Lankan side came in 2014, once again eight years after their previous win in England. This time around though, there was no Murali to get them through, but they found two new heroes in Dhammika Prasad and newly appointed captain Angelo Mathews.
After being asked to bat first, the Lankan side put up a brave show as they managed a total of 257 runs. Sangakkara top scored with 79, while Liam Plunkett took 5/64 for the English.
The Lankans had come in the Leeds Test after their number 10 and 11 had saved them from a loss in the first Test, negotiating the last five balls of the last over of the fifth day at Lord’s.
This match was special because the Lankans did not make the mistake that the English made at Lord’s and got the opposition all out in the fourth innings. After England put up 365 and took a first-innings lead of 108 runs, skipper Mathews smashed 160 and with the help of fifties from Jayawardene and Sangakkara and a useful 48 from Rangana Herath, they scored 457 in their second innings. They asked the English to chase 350.
Despite Moeen Ali hitting a brilliant 108 not out off 281 balls and playing for 20.1 overs alongside James Anderson, the number 11, the Lankans managed to get the English all-out for 249 and won the match by 100 runs, in a dramatic finish.
Nissanka, bowlers script another memorable win at The Oval, 2024
Lanka's latest victory came today. It was thanks to some very non-England-like play from the hosts on Day three that they got the visitor into the game. After reaching 325 in the first innings, riding on the back of a 154 by stand-in skipper Ollie Pope, the English had the chance to kill the game in the second innings, where the Sri Lankan side was struggling at 93/5.
But they allowed the opposition skipper, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis, to add 127 for the sixth wicket and drag their side back into the match. In their second innings, there was hardly any application shown by the English batters as they were bundled out for 156, the lowest score against the Lankans at home. Lahiru Kumara took four wickets for the de Silva-led side.
Seizing the opportunity, Pathum Nissanka made a name for himself as he scored a scintillating century (127* off just 124 balls) and took the team home. He added 69 with Kusal Mendis (39) for the second wicket and then unbeaten 111 with Angelo Mathews (32*) for the third, to win Lanka’s first game in 10 years in England.
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