Related items

• De Silva lauds Sri Lanka's bowlers in 'special' England victory

  Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva labelled his side's triumph over England as "special" following their eight-wicket win in the final Test at The Oval. 

  Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten century led the tourists to victory, having started day four needing just 125 runs with nine wickets in hand. 

  Despite the loss of Kusal Mendis (39), Sri Lanka were able to halt their seven-match losing streak in Tests against England, claiming their first win against them since June 2014.

  Nissanka's unbeaten 127 from 124 deliveries also made him only the fourth batter to log a strike rate of more than 100 when scoring a ton in men's Tests.

  De Silva hailed Sri Lanka's resilience in claiming the deserved victory, believing his opening batsman is the best in the business for the Lions.

  "It is very special, winning in England. The boys were tough enough to handle the pressure and get into some scenarios," De Silva told BBC Sport.

  "It is not comfortable. There was hard work put in by the bowlers and batters. We were there in every match - had positive points. The boys wanted to win in the end.

  "Credit to all of the bowlers. They have been on target from ball one. In the second innings, they were spot on.

  "He [Nissanka] was in form the last couple of years and doing well in white-ball format. He has proved he is the best opener in Sri Lanka right now."

  Kamindu Mendis, who struck 113 from 183 deliveries in the Lions' five-wicket defeat in the first Test, was handed Sri Lanka's Player of the Series after the triumph.

  Mendis was consistent with the bat throughout the series, scoring 267 runs across the five innings he was in at the crease. 

  "It's a good win in these conditions. We did really well, especially the seamers and the batters did really well today," Mendis said.

  "In these conditions, you have to face very difficult situations but I just wanted to enjoy it. That's it.

  "I just made small changes, not big ones. It's a big deal but you have to be confident in your ability and enjoy your game.

  "It's always a challenge facing seamers in England."

  Sri Lanka's attentions will now turn to a two-match Test series on home soil against New Zealand, starting on September 18 at the Galle International Stadium.

• 'Coldplay can't be number one every week' – Root confident in England's approach

  England have much to be positive about despite losing the final Test of their three-match series against Sri Lanka.

  That is the view of Joe Root, who was named England's Player of the Series.

  England were firmly second best as they lost by eight wickets at The Oval in the third Test, with Sri Lanka picking up just their fourth win in the longest format on English soil.

  Yet after winning the first two Tests, and their three matches against West Indies earlier in the summer, England have plenty to be happy with, so says Root, who used a musical comparison to emphasise his point.

  "Not so much this week, but it has been a good summer," Root told BBC Sport.

  "We have played some really good cricket along the way. We have had new faces come into the team and some really exciting prospects off the back of that. We are constantly learning and evolving as a group, and it is nice to contribute to that.

  "I don't think we played our best cricket this week and that is going to happen from time to time. Coldplay can't be number one every week.

  "My point being is we are always trying to move the game forward. We wanted to keep our catchers in and as batters want to find ways of putting the opposition under pressure.

  "We are not always going to get it right all of the time. For 90% of the summer we have. We have shown what a good team we can be when we play in that matter.

  "It is important we are authentic to what we are as a team and what brings out the best in our individual players."

  Root plundered 375 runs across six innings in the series, including two hundreds in the second Test.

  However, only scoring 25 in the third Test means he is 14 runs short of 1,000 for 2024.

  He will likely get the chance to surpass that milestone, and equal Alastair Cook as the only other English player to score 1,000+ runs in five calendar years, when England tour Pakistan in October.

  "You can laud it when it comes off," Root continued on England's approach. "When it doesn't always come off it might not look like traditional dismissals, but [Pathum] Nissanka was hitting over mid-on and mid-off last night.

  "When you are 127 not out you can look back and say what a brilliant innings it was. He was brave enough to take the challenge on and that is what we pride ourselves on as well - how can you knock bowlers off a length, how can you make it difficult for them to build pressure on you.

  "Some of our guys have a different method to how I would do it and that is what makes us such a good team when we are at our best, because we compliment each other really well and find a different way of getting teams to bowl away from where the danger is.

  "Over the last couple of years, that is what has made us have the success we have had."

  England's focus now switches to an ODI series against Australia, with bowler Gus Atkinson having been rested after sustaining an injury at The Oval.

• Sri Lanka cruise to victory as Nissanka stars on day four

  Pathum Nissanka's unbeaten century guided Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket win over England in the final Test of the three-match series.

  Sri Lanka went into day four at The Oval in a commanding position, needing just 125 for victory with nine wickets to spare.

  And despite Shoaib Bashir taking a fantastic catch in the deep to dismiss Kusal Mendis (39), the tourists ultimately cruised to just their fourth Test win on English soil.

  Nissanka's hugely accomplished innings was the highlight, as the opener clipped his way to 127 not-out.

  Angelo Mathews (32) provided a steady pair of hands at the other end, but the day belonged to Nissanka, as he fittingly struck the winning runs when he sent Bashir for four.

  England may have won the series 2-1, but Brendan McCullum's team were well below their best in the third Test, and attention will now turn to the ODI series against Australia, which starts on Wednesday.

  Data Debrief: Take two for Nissanka

  Nissanka was in excellent form throughout this match, and followed up his excellent 64 with a sublime knock in the second innings, sealing his second Test ton in the process.

  His performance helped Sri Lanka snap a seven-match losing run in Tests against England, and claim their first win since a 100-run victory back in June 2014. It had been England's longest winning run against Sri Lanka in the format.