Not for the first time this summer England kept the celebrations largely in check. The stand-in captain Ollie Pope and debutant Josh Hull lifted the trophy that marked a second series victory but, coming in the aftermath of an eight-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in the final Test of the season, no one was popping any champagne corks.
It was the kind of self-awareness that might have come in handy across the previous couple of days, with a loose and shabby performance – their worst for three years – proving ruinous. Although as ever, this risks detracting from their opponents who, through a spirited bowling display and a sublime century from Pathum Nissanka, flipped this finale on its head. Having pushed England closer than West Indies had managed to, Dhananjaya de Silva’s men deserved to savour this first Test victory on English soil for 10 years.
England had gone into the fourth day still hopeful of being able to induce some jeopardy like the collapse they had themselves suffered second time around. Nine wickets needed, 125 runs to defend, a perfect home season of six wins to strive for; it may have been a cold, grey, acutely end-of-season Monday morning in London, hence a ground that was a third full, but there was no reason not to throw everything they had at it.
Across the final two hours a slightly creaking attack struggled to muster up the swing that proved the undoing of their batters 24 hours earlier, however. Just one breakthrough came, Gus Atkinson pushing through a thigh strain that will now see him rest for the remainder of his remarkable breakthrough summer and snaring Kusal Mendis on the hook, Shoaib Bashir holding a superb diving catch in the deep.
But that early wobble aside, this was a pretty frictionless cruise in SE11, Nissanka turning his overnight 53 into what was a wonderfully compact, skilful and brisk unbeaten 127 and sealing the win with a crisp late cut off Bashir. It was pretty fitting that Angelo Mathews should be alongside him at the end unbeaten on 32, the old warhorse having been the catalyst for Sri Lanka’s famous 1-0 series victory here back in 2014.
A 2-1 win for England, then, and, if nothing else, another reminder that a drop off in intensity can be costly. Sri Lanka, by contrast, could have easily felt deflated after a ragged first day, and again after conceding a 62-run deficit on first innings. Instead, they dug deep, stayed serious, and found a way to prevail, with Vishwa Fernando’s removals of Joe Root and Harry Brook in the third innings the spark for this fire.
But there was little doubt which way the player of the match award was going, with Nissanka, who did not start the series, delivering 191 runs across the two innings. A fourth-innings masterclass in overseas conditions suggested a player who made a hundred on Test debut three years ago is more than just the one-day international star he has become in between. After his quick scoring ensured a 50% refund for ticketholders on the day, Nissanka is already a crowd favourite at the Oval.
This being England under Brendon McCullum and (the currently injured) Ben Stokes, the reactions will be extreme but viewed in the round, this summer of renewal and five wins out of six still had a bit more upside. Granted it was a pretty shallow collapse to 156 all out on Sunday, adding up to 17 wickets for 260 runs since the start of day two. But even within this came another display of the qualities that Jamie Smith possesses. That violent yet clean 67 with the tail made it a debut summer of three half-centuries to go with his 111 in Manchester. Add the unfussy wicketkeeping and his elevation was a success story.
Atkinson was another to emerge in a summer intended to replenish the seam stocks, his 34 wickets at 20 and a maiden Test century at Lord’s making his breather before Pakistan well earned. Bashir also furthered his education – England are convinced he is the one – while Hull, another 20-year-old, began his. He had apparently never bowled a wobble-seam delivery before he met Jimmy Anderson this past week but while his default inswinger must surely in time become the shock ball rather than stock ball, and his next Test cap might not come straight away, the raw ingredients are there.
Pope’s future captaincy credentials were not straightforward to gauge given the set blueprint in place, with his field placings inventive at times but orders – such as the decision to stay on in bad light on the second evening and push ahead with the spinners – still coming from the sidelines. While a bit streaky for a number three, his first-innings 154 was a second century of the season and a decent reversal of form. The key here is to fill in the gaps with calmness and consistency to become less feast or famine.
As well as missing the presence of Stokes, this second series was also another reminder of the struggle to balance the side when he is sidelined. Chris Woakes typically delivered 24 wickets at 20 across six Tests but could not combine this with runs once promoted to No 7. Olly Stone offered spite once Mark Wood was injured – another box ticked and something that will roll into Pakistan – but the gamble to see if a leg-side dasher like Dan Lawrence could deputise for Zak Crawley at opener did not pay out much of a return.
Ben Duckett and Brook averaging in the 30s also made for a disappointing statistic given their newfound seniority, while the overall lack of a century partnership against Sri Lanka was perhaps a telling one. Instead another debt of gratitude was owed to Root, who weaved together another golden season of 666 runs at an average of 73. That his two failures at the Oval could not be overcome still said a bit about England’s ongoing over-reliance here and why those champagne corks remained in their bottles.
