Sri Lanka 263 (Dhananjaya 69, Kamindu 64, Nissanka 64) and 219 for 2 (Nissanka 127*) beat England 325 (Pope 154, Duckett 86) and 156 (Smith 67, Kumara 4-21, Vishwa 3-40) by eight wickets

But as a relatively healthy crowd raided the back of their wardrobes for more suitable attire and turned up on a Monday morning to see Sri Lanka overhaul a target of 219 and claim a consolation victory over England, the mood among those clad all in white was more like: “Finally!”

It took Sri Lanka 25.3 overs on the fourth day to complete the win, having resumed on 94 for 1 and needing 125 more. Nissanka’s unbeaten 127 off 124 balls built on his first-innings 64 and saw his side home by eight wickets.

There was also a hint of relief that this match was over and done with for an England side that had dropped their bundle in the second innings and proved far from potent on the final morning when they managed to extract just one of the nine wickets they still needed after Chris Woakes’ return catch had removed Dimuth Karunaratne cheaply the previous evening.

Bear in mind that no matter what the weather says, “summer” is far from over for England’s white-ball players who have a series looming against Australia from Wednesday, only the magnitude of Sri Lanka’s victory ensuring a gap of more than 48 hours in between.

Gus Atkinson, who is nursing a thigh problem which kept him out of the attack for the second half of Sri Lanka’s first innings on Sunday, took the only other wicket to fall.

He gingerly jogged halfway to Shoaib Bashir, who made up the rest of the ground from fine leg where he had taken an excellent catch running in and diving full-stretch to his left to remove Kusal Mendis for a brisk 39 in the fifth over of the day.

Nissanka soaked up the applause with arms spread wide and a warm bear-hug from Mathews, marking his second ton from 10 Tests, although this was only his second match in the format since mid-2022.

After bringing up the milestone, Nissanka clobbered an Olly Stone short ball over the fence at deep backward square and, two balls later, he saw Bashir spill his ramp to deep third.

A facsimile six from Nissanka off Stone’s next over took Sri Lanka past the 200 mark and, fittingly, he hit the winning runs cutting Bashir to the boundary at deep backward point.

The win was emphatic but followed a see-sawing contest which Sri Lanka’s bowlers seized control of on the third day.