England beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets, captain Root scores double ton. The hosts were defeated quite convincingly. This was a rain-delayed match here at Galle, Sri Lanka. Had it not been for the rain, the match would have been over well inside 4 days. English spinners Dominic Bess and Jack Leach took their respective 5-wicket hauls in 1st and 2nd innings respectively.
Brief scores
1st innings Sri Lanka 135-10(46.1 overs). D Chandimal 28(71), A Mathews 27(54), D Bess 5/30, S Broad 3/20.
England 421-10(117.1 overs). J Root 228(321), D Lawrence 73(150), D Perera 4/109, L Embuldeniya 3/176.
2nd innings Sri Lanka 359-10(136.5 overs). L Thirimanne 111(251), A Mathews 71(219), J Leach 5/122, D Bess 3/100.
England 76-3(24.2 overs). J Bairstow 35(65), D Lawrence 21(52), L Embuldeniya 2/29.
Player of the Match- JOE ROOT
Stand-in Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and elected to bat first. It seemed like a good batting surface with something there for the spinners also. But Sri Lanka were pretty horrendous with the bat on Day 1. They threw away their wickets and lack of test match temperament was clearly visible.
By his own admission, Dominic Bess, who took a 5 wicket haul, said this was not the best he had bowled. He meant that there was nothing great in his bowling but rather the Sri Lankan batsmen were just gifting their wickets. Stuart Broad firstly cleaned out the Sri Lankan top order and then Bess took away the lower and middle order.
After being bowled out for just 135 in under 47 overs, even the Sri Lankan bowlers faired rather poorly. England captain Joe Root and debutant Daniel Lawrence stitched a very long partnership. Meanwhile, Root completed his 4th double century. Lawrence also scored a fifty on debut. For the bowlers, Dilruwan Perera was the pick as he picked up 4 wickets.
England beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets
In the second innings, Sri Lanka scored much better application. They batted for a long time. Lahiru Thirimanne scored a comeback century, as he was in the test squad after a long time. Their were also half-centuries from Kusal Perera and Angelo Mathews. But due to their poor batting in first innings, they could not set up a huge lead. Jack Leach this time took a 5-wicket haul.
England just had a target of 76 runs. Although they did look in trouble when they were 14-3. But Jonny Bairstow and Daniel Lawrence guided them home safely.
England captain Joe Root was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant double century. He scored 228 at a very good strike rate and possibly batted Sri Lanka out of the game.
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