Sri Lanka leave with deserved win thanks to brilliance of Nissanka

Not for the first time this summer England kept the celebrations largely in check.

- Ali Martin

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, 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 summer and snaring Kusal Mendis on the hook, Shoaib Bashir holding a superb diving catch in the deep.