By : Samantha Hewabandula reporting from London for thesundayreader.lk
Ollie Pope admitted England were the architects of their own downfall after careless batting proved their undoing in an eight wicket defeat to Sri Lanka in the third test at the Oval.
Sri Lanka wrapped up a four day victory which ended a five match winning run for hosts, who still won the series 2-1 having already whitewashed West Indies 3-0
Despite a fine first innings century from standing captain Pope , England surrendered the initiative with costly errors contributing to a first innings batting collapse and a second knock which allowed the tourists to turn the game on its head. Pathum Nissanka punished them with an unbeaten 127 as Sri Lanka raced to their target of 219.
Pope admitted; ”it is disappointing on the third day we shoot ourselves in the foot. We were ahead of the game after two days and we weren’t able to capitalize. With the bat we weren’t good enough and, in the second innings ,weren’t up to it. “I wouldn’t say it’s a lack of edge or not really having that desire to go and put together a massive score. But it can just happen in cricket.There’s been a good gap since we last did that “.
