Sri Lanka start chase of 219 after defeating England in third test

Sri Lanka reached a score of 94-1 before play was halted due to poor light on Sunday, requiring an additional 125 runs to achieve a well-earned turnaround victory in the third Test against England, thereby avoiding a 3-0 series defeat.

Pathum Nissanka was the standout performer, remaining unbeaten on 53 as he capitalized on the late evening sunshine, following England's earlier struggles under the floodlights during a tumultuous third day at the Oval.

The visitors appear poised to secure victory on Monday, unless the match, which has been full of unexpected developments, takes another unforeseen turn.

England quickly squandered their first innings lead of 62 with a lackluster display from their top order, but they nearly salvaged the situation thanks to one of their emerging talents.

The fact that they managed to set a target of 218 was largely attributable to Jamie Smith, one of the summer's revelations for England, who scored an impressive 67 to mitigate the earlier collapse.

Coming in at a precarious 69-5, after Sri Lankan bowlers had dismantled England's innings with their swing bowling, Smith took advantage of one over from Milan Rathnayake, scoring 20 runs on his way to a commendable half-century in front of his home crowd.

Earlier, Ben Duckett (7), Ollie Pope (7), Dan Lawrence (35), and Joe Root (12) all fell victim to aggressive shots, a reflection of the relentless attacking strategy that has characterized England's recent successes, much to the dismay of their more traditional supporters.

While England's batting included some reckless shots, Sri Lanka's bowlers performed admirably, consistently finding movement in the air after lunch.

Vishwa Fernando claimed the crucial wicket of Root, striking him on the boot with an in-swinger, and subsequently dismissed Harry Brook in a similar fashion.

Once Smith was caught at midwicket, the lower order could only muster a few boundaries, leaving the hosts with a total that fell short of being commanding as the sun emerged, creating more favorable batting conditions at an inopportune moment for England.

England had started the day in a strong position, quickly dismissing the overnight pair of Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis.

The most recent addition to their surprise test lineup, the 6'7" (2.01m) left-arm seamer Josh Hull, successfully dismissed Sri Lanka's captain de Silva, who was caught while attempting a hook shot in the deep. Hull later achieved the third wicket of his nascent test career by trapping Vishwa Fernando lbw.

In the interim between these two dismissals, Chris Woakes claimed the significant wicket of Mendis, Sri Lanka's leading batsman in the series, with an impressive delivery that seamed away and resulted in an edge.

Olly Stone then eliminated the perilous lower-order batsman Rathnayake, followed by Shoaib Bashir, who concluded the innings by dismissing Asitha Fernando, thereby providing the home team with what appeared to be a valuable first innings advantage.