The Cricketer looks at the main talking points from day four of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval
A fabulous innings deserved a hundred, and Pathum Nissanka deserved an elegant way of reaching three figures.
Punching effortlessly through the off-side was, therefore, an appropriate method by which to tick off a historic milestone. It was the second Test century of his career, and he guided his country – alongside the uber-experienced Angelo Mathews – to a deserved victory at the Kia Oval.
There were 13 fours stroked all around the ground before two hooked sixes off Olly Stone once the winning line was in sight.
It was fitting that the 26-year-old should guide the winning runs through short third for four, an effortless, virtually chanceless knock to the last.
Joe Root was named as England's Test player of the summer (Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Not much went right for England over the course of the final two days of this Test, but Shoaib Bashir took two fine catches at fine leg to show the continual improvements in his game.
It's easy to forget that Bashir remains just 20 years of age, now that he is seemingly established as England's first-choice spinner.
His catch to dismiss Dhananjaya de Silva in the first innings, top-edging Josh Hull, was reasonably straightforward, but his effort on Monday morning to claim Kusal Mendis, diving away to his left, was an athletic, excellent piece of work on a day without many other redeeming features for England, whose positive Test summer ended with a single defeat.
England won the series 2-1 despite their defeat at the Kia Oval (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Arriving at the Kia Oval on Monday, you wondered whether conditions might just come to England's aid. It was grey and overcast, every bit as dark as at several times in this Test, when the question of bad light has come into play.
But it was also less humid than over the weekend, when the ball did plenty, even if much of England's was charitable nonetheless.
There was early movement, but Sri Lanka countered that superbly, continuing to drive straight and hit gaps along the off-side. England's solitary wicket of the day, ultimately, came from a short ball. There was to be no lifeline, not the "special day" that assistant coach Paul Collingwood acknowledged was required to stave off defeat.
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