England claimed their first clean sweep away from home since 1962 in a three or more Tests series as they defeated Sri Lanka by 42 runs in the third and last Test match in Colombo. On a spin friendly track Joe Root opted to bat first and Jonny Bairstow who was playing his first Test of this series, played an awesome knock of 110 runs and helped England to post 336 on the board. In reply Karunaratne and Dananjaya de Silva added 142 runs for the second wicket and Sri Lanka were looking good for a big first innings total but after de Silva's dismissal they collapsed and lost 9 wickets for just 67 runs and got all out for just 240 runs and conceded 96 runs lead. In the second innings England scored 230 runs and set a target of 327 runs for the Sri Lanka and the hosts could only score 284 runs and suffered 42 runs loss and lost the series by 3-0.
All the major stats and facts from the third Test between Sri Lanka and England in Colombo :
2 - This was the only second instance when a Sri Lankan batsman failed to score a hundred in a three or more Test series at home. The other instance was against Australia in 1999.
3 - England is the third team to win series in all three formats on a Sri Lanka tour. Pakistan and India are the other two teams.
Teams to win series in all three formats on a Sri Lanka tour -
Pakistan in 2015 (2-1 Test, 3-2 ODI, 2-0 T20I)
India in 2017 (3-0 Test, 5-0 ODI, 1-0 T20I)
England in 2018 (3-0 Test, 3-1 ODI, 1-0 T20I)
3 - England is also the third team to whitewash Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in a three Tests series.
Teams to whitewash Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in a three Tests series -
Australia in 2004
India in 2017
England in 2018
Non Asian teams to whitewash Asian teams in Asia in three or more Tests series -
3-0 Australia vs Pakistan in 2002
3-0 Australia vs Sri Lanka in 2004
3-0 England vs Sri Lanka in 2018
11 - Ben Foakes became the 11th player to win Man of the Series award in debut Test series.
Players to win Man of the Series award in debut Test series -
Sourav Ganguly (IND) vs ENG in Eng, 1996
Jacques Rudolph (SA) vs BAN in Ban, 2003
Stuart Clark (AUS) vs AUS in SA, 2006
Ajantha Mendis (SL) vs IND in SL, 2008
R Ashwin (IND) vs WI in Ind, 2011
Vernon Philander (SA) vs AUS in SA, 2011
Rohit Sharma (IND) vs WI in Ind, 2013
Mehedi Hasan Miraz (BAN) vs ENG in Ban, 2016
Prithvi Shaw (IND) vs WI in Ind, 2018
Ben Foakes (ENG) vs SL in SL, 2018
18 - Both Moeen Ali and Jack Leach took 18 wickets each in this series - the joint second most wickets by an England spinner in a three Test series in Asia.
Most wickets by England spinners in a three Tests series in Asia -
23 - Headley Verity in India, 1933/34
18 - Ashley Giles in Sri Lanka, 2003/04
18 - Moeen Ali in Sri Lanka, 2018/19
18 - Jack Leach in Sri Lanka, 2018/19
56 - After 56 years England whitewashed a team in three or more Tests series away from home. The last time they whitewashed (3-0) New Zealand in New Zealand in 1962.
England whitewashing away from home (3 or more Tests) -
3-0 in South Africa, 1895/96
3-0 in New Zealand, 1962/63
3-0 in Sri Lanka, 2018/19
277 - Ben Foakes scored 277 runs at an average of 69.25 in this series - the third most runs by an England wicket keeper in a Test series in Asia.
Most runs by England wicket keepers in a Test series in Asia -
352 - Jonny Bairstow in India, 2016/17
319 - Dick Spooner in India, 1951/52
277 - Ben Foakes in Sri Lanka, 2018/19
268 - Alan Knott in India, 1976/77
258 - Matt Prior in India, 2012/13
