England went down to their worst defeat under Brendon McCullum as Pathum Nissanka’s magnificent century guided Sri Lanka to a famous win at The Kia Oval.
England had the opportunity to earn a 100% home summer record for the first time in 20 years but instead paid the price for a careless display.
Though Sri Lanka lose the series 2-1, this ends a 10-match winless streak against England and, realistically, gives a measure of success to what was always likely to be a tough tour.
Below-par displays on days two and three left England up against it at the beginning of day four, when Sri Lanka resumed on 94-1, needing another 125 to reach their target of 219.
Kusal Mendis was bounced out for 39 by Gus Atkinson thanks to Shaoib Bashir’s brilliant catch. Another 111 runs were still required, but any England hope was snuffed out by the composure of Nissanka and Angelo Matthews.
Nissanka had already passed three figures when Bashir missed a half-chance to catch him at third man. By then, the game had gone.
Nissanka ended unbeaten on a quite brilliant 127, Mathews on 32. Their unbroken partnership of 111 gave Sri Lanka victory by eight wickets and only a fourth Test victory in this country.
England end the summer with series wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka, though also with a sense of what might have been.
Their next Test series, in Pakistan, begins in less than a month, albeit with doubts over the schedule because of renovation works at a number of venues in the country.
An unrelenting international calendar continues on Wednesday when an almost entirely separate England squad begins a T20 series against Australia in Southampton.