‘One of the happiest moments in my career’ - Dhananjaya de Silva after Sri Lanka’s win over England in third Test

Sri Lanka defeated England by eight wickets in the third Test of the series at Kennington Oval. Batting first, England posted 325 runs on board, courtesy of stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s 153. In the second innings, Pathum Nissanka, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis hit a half-century each but England managed to take a lead of 62 runs.

However, England’s batters struggled big time in the third innings as they were bundled for 156 runs. Lahiru Kumara picked up four wickets, while Vishwa Fernando clinched three. Sri Lanka were asked to chase 219 runs in the final innings, which they did with absolute ease. Nissanka hit a sensational century while Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews supported him well in the middle.

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This was also Sri Lanka’s first Test win over England in 10 years. After the game, captain Dhananjaya noted that it was one of the happiest moments in his career. The 33-year-old also mentioned that it was tough to play in the English conditions but the goal was always to pick 20 wickets in every game.

“One of the happiest moments in my career. We had a tough time in the last two weeks and to come back here and get a win against English conditions and the England team is great, taking the 20 wickets and that's what I have been talking to the boys and they were up to it,” Dhananjaya said in the post-match presentation.

Nissanka proved he is the best batsman in Sri Lanka right now: Dhananjaya

Nissanka wasn’t part of the playing XI in the first Test of the series in Manchester. Speaking about the same, Dhananjaya stated that he wanted him in the squad but couldn’t fit him. He also called Nissanka the best batter of Sri Lanka at the momentum and noted the reason behind trusting Kamindu Mendis, who was adjudged Player of the Series alongside Joe Root.

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“I wanted him in the team, but only 11 can play and the moment he came in, he proved he is the best batsman in Sri Lanka right now. We have a fixed batting lineup in Tests and it's hard to get in a new batter and Kamindu was scoring runs in domestic so we had to get him in and here they are doing well,” Dhananjaya said.