Calm Root steers England to win over Sri Lanka

MANCHESTER: A controlled 64-run partnership between Joe Root and Jamie Smith guided England to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the first Test here at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Root dug in after England had made a shaky start to chasing a modest victory target of 205, reaching his half-century off 108 balls.
England lost opener Ben Duckett early when he edged to wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis for 11 and captain Ollie Pope soon following him back to the pavilion, caught at slip for six.
Dan Lawrence (34) was next to go, trapped lbw by Milan Rathnayake. Harry Brook (32) shared a 49-run partnership with Root before being caught and bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya, leaving England wobbling at 119-4.
Smith, who scored his maiden Test century in the first innings, matched Root’s patience as England went an hour without a boundary and the hosts were firmly back in control before Smith was bowled by Asitha Fernando for 39.
Root, unbeaten on 62, hit only his second four from the last ball of the match to give England a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Sri Lanka had started the day at 204-6 and Kamindu Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal batted through the rain-hit first session to forge a 117-run partnership for the seventh wicket and get the touring side past the 300-run mark.
Kamindu (113) scored his third Test century as he kept the scoreboard ticking with a combination of sublime shot-making and tireless running between the wickets.
Middle-order batsman Kamindu has fast become one of Sri Lanka’s most consistent Test players, scoring three centuries and two half-centuries in the eight innings he has played in the longest format of the game.
But Kamindu nicked Gus Atkinson to Root soon after lunch as England made the most of the new ball, despite fast bowler Mark Wood being ruled out for the day with a thigh injury.
Matthew Potts dismissed Chandimal, who scored 79 despite playing through pain after suffering a blow to his thumb, to end Sri Lanka’s innings on 326, with the visitors adding only 19 runs for the last three wickets.
The second Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday.
Scoreboard
SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 236 (D. de Silva 74, M. Rathnayake 72; C. Woakes 3-32, S. Bashir 3-55)
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 358 (J. Smith 111, H. Brook 56; A. Fernando 4-103, P. Jayasuriya 3-85)
SRI LANKA (2nd Innings, overnight 204-6):
N. Madushka b Woakes 0
D. Karunaratne c Brook b Wood 27
K. Mendis c Smith b Atkinson 0
A. Mathews c Potts b Woakes 65
D. Chandimal c (sub) b Potts 79
D. de Silva lbw b Potts 11
K.M. Mendis c Root b Atkinson 113
M. Rathnayake c Duckett b Root 10
P. Jayasuriya c Brook b Potts 5
V. Fernando lbw b Woakes 0
EXTRAS (LB-9, NB-1, W-6) 16
TOTAL (all out, 89.3 overs) 326
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Fernando), 2-1 (K. Mendis), 3-52 (Karunaratne), 4-95 (de Silva), 5-173 (Mathews), 6-190 (Rathnayake), 7-307 (K.M. Mendis), 8-321 (Jayasuriya), 9-322 (Fernando)
DID NOT BAT: A. Fernando
BOWLING: Woakes 22-6-58-3, Atkinson 17-2-89-2, Bashir 20-0-77-0 (1nb), Wood 10.2-1-36-1, 3.48 Potts 17.3-4-47-3 (2w), Root 1.4-0-5-1, Lawrence 1-0-5-0
ENGLAND (2nd Innings):
B. Duckett c K. Mendis b A. Fernando 11
D. Lawrence lbw b Rathnayake 34
O. Pope c de Silva b Jayasuriya 6
J. Root not out 62
H. Brook c&b Jayasuriya 32
J. Smith b A. Fernando 39
C. Woakes not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-5, NB-3, W-5) 13
TOTAL (for five wickets, 57.2 overs) 205
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-34 (Duckett), 2-56 (Pope), 3-70 (Lawrence), 4-119 (Brook), 5-183 (Smith)
DID NOT BAT: G. Atkinson, M. Potts, M. Wood, S. Bashir
BOWLING: V. Fernando 8-0-46-0 (1w), A. Fernando 12-1-25-2, Jayasuriya 25.2-4-98-2, Rathnayake 12-0-31-1 (3nb)
UMPIRES: Christopher Gaffaney (New Zealand), Paul Reiffel (Australia)
TV UMPIRE: Joel Wilson (West Indies)
MATCH REFEREE: David Boon (Australia)
RESULT: England won by five wickets.
SERIES: England lead three-match series 1-0.
Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2024