Sri Lankan cricket team secured a stellar win over England in the third and final Test at Kennington Oval, London. The visitors who lost the first two Tests and the series, showed a great deal of fight and resilience in the dead rubber.

Dhananjaya de Silva-led team chased down 219 with poise and precision as they steered clear of a whitewash in the away soil. While England clinched the three-match series 2-1, this defeat has significantly dampened their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Following the defeat, England slipped to sixth Place in the WTC points table, falling behind Sri Lanka. Earlier, this year, the Three Lions surrendered at the hands of Team India in the five-match Test series. Despite winning the Test opener, England went on to lose the next four games on the trot before losing the series by 4-1 in the away series.

Furthermore, their recent defeat to Sri Lanka at home, exposed key vulnerabilities in their approach, particularly their much-talked-about "Bazball" philosophy, which came up short once again. With this latest defeat and their earlier Test series loss to India, questions are growing louder, What’s the point of Bazball if it isn’t showing positive results in the lead-up to the World Test Championship (WTC) final qualifications?

Sri Lanka's measured approach beats England's bazball approach

England’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the third Test was nothing short of embarrassing because they had been in commanding positions not once but twice during the match and that too at home. Having finished Day 1 on a comfortable 221/3, they held a 62-run lead after the first innings.

Despite these advantages, they squandered both chances with reckless batting, ultimately handing Sri Lanka the upper hand. On the other hand, Sri Lanka seized the opportunities to better effect and churned out a winning result.

What made this defeat particularly bitter was how recklessly England threw away their wickets in the second innings as they were bowled out for 156 runs, with Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando doing the most damage, taking four and three wickets respectively.

Meanwhile, the Bazball philosophy, which encourages batters to play with intent, seemed to morph into irresponsibility as England’s batters failed to comprehend the match situation. On the other hand, Sri Lankan players stayed calm, kept their composure and capitalized on England's overconfident approach.

With a measured approach and proper plans in place, Sri Lanka did attack when it mattered the most. Batting first, England posted 325 in the first innings with the help of Ollie Pope's 154.

Sri Lanka responded with 263, courtesy of Dhananjaya de Silva's 69, Kamindu Mendis' 64 and Pathum Nissanka's 64, but England batters fell prey to the opposition's bowlers in the second innings.

The visitors chased down the target, thanks to Pathum Nissanka who led the attack by example with a brilliant century. He remained not out on 127 as Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.