ENG vs SL 3rd Test: Sri Lanka Beat England And Moves To 5th In The WTC 2025 Points Table: Sri Lanka triumphed over England in the third Test match at The Oval, where they won convincingly by eight wickets, thereby concluding the series with 1-2 scoreline. Sri Lanka needed to derive this performance since they displaced England from the fifth position to the sixth position in the ICC World Test Championship table, thus achieving a points percentage of 42.86%.
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Sri Lanka managed only 263 runs, owing to some brilliant bowling from Lahiru Kumara (4-21) and Vishwa Fernando (3-40), so England could amass 325 runs in their first batting innings. Nonetheless, their second innings saw them collapse to just 156 runs due to superb demonstrations from the Sri Lankan bowlers, while during the first innings, Jamie Smith made 67 runs just before losing his wicket when the Sri Lankan team was at a heaven-sent percentage lead with him being its last hurdle.
There were no doubts about Sri Lanka’s victory when Pathum Nissanka reached 129, not out, as Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews gave him support during the chase for 219 runs to win against the home team on Day Four, which also happened to be his side’s first Test series triumph over hosts in ten years.
Updated WTC points table
| Pos. | Team | Match | Won | Lost | Draw | Points | PCT |
| 01 | Ind | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 74 | 68.52 |
| 02 | Aus | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 90 | 62.50 |
| 03 | NZ | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 50.00 |
| 04 | Ban | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 45.83 |
| 05 | SL | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 42.86 |
| 06 | Eng | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 81 | 42.19 |
| 07 | SA | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 38.89 |
| 08 | Pak | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 16 | 19.05 |
| 09 | WI | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 18.52 |
Even though they lost the series 1-2, Sri Lanka gained momentum and moved ahead of England in fifth with a point percentage (PCT) of 42.86%. In contrast, England, who have played a greater number of matches, lost their position to sixth with a point percentage (PCT) of 42.19%.
Thus, in the ongoing cycle of ICC WTC 2025, Sri Lanka has so far managed to win 3 out of 7 matches compared to 8 victories achieved by England from 16 contests. India remains top of the list (PCT 68.52%) while Australia occupies second place (PCT 62.5%).
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It is important for Sri Lankans that they use this victory to guide them to better performances in the next few series against New Zealand and Australia. However, England will want no further losses when they again meet Pakistan next up on their schedule.
