England suffered their heaviest defeat under Brendon McCullum, while Pathum Nissanka’s magnificent century led Sri Lanka to a famous victory at the Kia Oval.

England could have achieved a 100 per cent home record in the summer for the first time in 20 years, but instead paid the price for a sloppy performance.

Although Sri Lanka lost the series 2-1, it ended a 10-match winless streak against England and realistically brought some success to what was expected to be a tough tour.

Sub-par performances on days two and three left England struggling at the start of day four as Sri Lanka returned at 94-1, needing another 125 to reach their target of 219.

Kusal Mendis was dismissed for 39 runs by Gus Atkinson thanks to Shoaib Bashir’s brilliant catch. Another 111 runs were needed but composure from Nissanka and Angelo Matthews dashed England’s hopes of victory.

Nissanka had already crossed the three-figure mark when Bashir missed a half-chance to catch him as third man. By that point, the game was already over.

Nissanka remained unbeaten on a rather brilliant 127, with Mathews on 32. Their unbroken partnership of 111 gave Sri Lanka the victory by eight wickets and only their fourth Test victory in the country.

England ends the summer with series wins against the West Indies and Sri Lanka, but also with a sense of what could have been.

Their next Test series in Pakistan begins in less than a month, but there are doubts about the schedule due to renovation work at several venues in the country.

A relentless international calendar continues on Wednesday when an almost entirely separate England side begins a T20 series against Australia in Southampton.