Although the Sri Lankans were in a strong position at the start of the fourth day, but their batting soon collapsed when John Emburey took 5 wickets for just 5 runs. Only Warnapura, Dias and Mendis managed to score more than 20 runs, and none of the others got past 10. Sri Lanka ended up with 175 runs, leaving England a target of 171. De Mel struck early when he dismissed Cook without scoring, but Gooch and Chris Tavare took England to 84 before the former was dismissed. Tavare was then joined by Gower, and the pair took their team total to 167 before Tavare was stumped. However, the remaining runs were taken by Gower, and the match ended in victory for England.