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Ollie Pope admitted England “shot ourselves in the foot” as Sri Lanka eased to a dominant eight-wicket victory, while the hosts were left reeling from costly mistakes.
The Test might have had an end-of-term or end-of-summer feeling, but that will not placate the thousands of fans who have dedicated their time and money to watch this side at the Oval.
To avoid defeat, England would have had to find great skill and resilience, having rarely needed both this summer despite five victories in five matches. Sri Lanka started the day 94 for one and just 125 runs from victory with nine wickets remaining and the result almost felt like a foregone conclusion on the final day, following the events of day three.
Pathun Nissanka scored his second Test century, as Sri Lanka knocked off the required runs with relative ease, while England’s bowlers struggled for pace and consistency in a match that might have felt like one too many.
Gus Atkinson was battling against a thigh injury sustained on the third day, and Josh Hull also had strapping on his thigh, but there was just one wicket to fall. Kunas Mendis was caught by a stunning diving catch from Shoaib Bashir on the boundary rope for 39, giving Atkinson another wicket.
Bashir had another chance at a catch to dismiss Nissanka, but he was already on 108, and it was unlikely to have a significant effect on the outcome.
When Pope changed to a short-ball ploy with Sri Lanka still possessing eight wickets in hand and less than 50 more required for victory, it felt like a last-ditch effort to try and prevent the inevitable.
Ultimately, by the morning of day four, the story was all but written after Sri Lanka capitalised on Pope’s hyper-aggressive field placements in the evening of the third day, and England’s reckless batting.
“Disappointing not to be on the right side of the result today,” Pope said to Sky Sports after the match.
“Day three, we shot ourselves in the foot, we were not at our best.
“Wouldn’t say it was complacency. It has been a long summer but that is not the reason. It was just one of those days [day three] where it didn’t come off. We want to keep learning, bettering ourselves and moving forward and I think we have done that this summer.”
He added: “Loved being captain. Obviously, when Stokesy is back he will step back in but it has been an honour.
“Disappointing not to win today but we have won five out of six Tests this summer.”
England needed wickets while the tourists required just 219 runs, but Sri Lanka’s batters stood strong, picking off boundaries with ease as the hosts had four in the slip cordon, and a gully, with only one fielder on the rope.
England might be left taking a closer look at Pope’s aggressive decision to proceed with 17 overs of spin after tea on day two to keep the game going due to fears of bad light, although the stand-in captain defended his decision after the match and believed it could have reaped the rewards. It allowed Sri Lanka to put on runs and take their first-innings total to 263, after England made 325.
The attacking tendencies were not limited to their fielding; perhaps in a desire to entertain following sparse crowds at Lord’s and with the series win already confirmed, they were bowled out for just 156 in 33.5 overs, with Jamie Smith’s 67 the only innings of note.
Their second innings was criticised publicly by former captains Alastair Cook and Michael Vaughan, as batters charged down the wicket but were sent back to the dressing room at a quicker rate than the sixes they were trying to hit.
England were careless with their wickets and costly with their bowling, lacking the bite that has accompanied the team’s main successes during the “Bazball” era. Instead, it resulted in a muted and meek finish to the Test summer.
