Aug 21-25, Outdated Trafford, Manchester, 1st Take a look at Match
Sri Lanka 236 (de Silva 74, Rathnayake 72, Woakes 3-32) & 326 (Mendis 113, Chandimal 79, Woakes 3-58, Potts 3-47) England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Fernando 4-103) & 205-5 (Root 62*, Smith 39, Fernando 2-25, Jayasuriya 2-98)
England received by 5 wickets
Toss: Sri Lanka, who elected to bat Officers: Joel Wilson, Paul Reiffel, Chris Gaffaney, David Boon, Mike Burns
England negotiated a tense chase on the afternoon of Day 4 at Outdated Trafford to beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets within the first Take a look at of their three-match collection.
Joe Root and Chris Woakes steered England to victory simply over 10 minutes earlier than the scheduled shut of play to finish a 205-run chase that remained removed from sure for a lot of the ultimate two periods of the day.
Root completed unbeaten on 62, his sixty fourth Take a look at match fifty, with Woakes not out on 8 on the different finish, the pair efficiently steering England by one closing wobble when Asitha Fernando bowled Jamie Smith for 39 with 22 nonetheless required.
As shadows lengthened on an Outdated Trafford bathed in night sunshine, the win was ultimately sealed by Root skipping down the wicket to deposit Prabath Jayasuriya over mid-on for the ultimate 4 runs required.
Sri Lanka battled onerous with the ball all through the innings, rotating their bowlers nicely and stifling England’s inclination for fast run-scoring with well-set fields that helped ratchet up stress on a brand new look batting line-up shorn of each Zak Crawley and Ben Stokes.
The guests put England on the again foot early on, Asitha Fernando eradicating Ben Duckett caught behind for 11 within the sixth over, earlier than Prabath Jayasuriya after which Milan Rathnayake added the wickets of Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence for six and 34 respectively – leaving the hosts 70 for 3 within the sixteenth over.
Phew!: Chris Woakes and Joe Root breathe a sigh of reduction as they see England dwelling by 5 wickets
PICTURES: Alamy
Root and Harry Brook have been compelled to batten down the hatches as a way to get England’s chase again on monitor, and the Yorkshire pair slowly dragged their aspect in direction of the required whole, placing on 49 for the fourth wicket.
Sri Lanka refused to put down nevertheless and when Jayasuriya had Brook caught and bowled for 32, England have been lowered to 119 for 4, nonetheless 86 wanting victory and with their elongated tail nearly peeking into view. Fortuitously for England, the arrival of eventual participant of the match Smith to the crease proved decisive, his 64-run partnership with Root taking the hosts to inside touching distance of the win.
Finally the seeds for England’s victory have been sown on the morning of Day Three, as they pounced on a poor session of cricket from Sri Lanka to grab a 122-run first innings lead. Jamie Smith and Atkinson started the day with England simply 23 runs forward, however they took benefit of some pretty aimless cricket from the guests to share 66 for the seventh wicket and put Sri Lanka nicely behind the sport.
Smith, who has loved an excellent begin to his embryonic Take a look at profession, with two half centuries in the summertime’s earlier collection in opposition to the West Indies – together with an agonising 95 – notched a wonderful maiden Take a look at hundred as England’s closing 4 wickets added 120 runs to their whole. To cap a really depressing morning Sri Lanka then discovered themselves nearly instantly two wickets down within the three overs their batters confronted earlier than lunch.
For the second time in two innings the guests required a fightback from a horrendous begin. Within the first Dhananjaya de Silva and debutant Milan Rathnayake rescued Sri Lanka from 6 for 3 to a extra aggressive 236 all out, within the second it was the flip of Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis who placed on 78 collectively to assist their aspect to 204 for six on the shut.
It meant Sri Lanka arrived at Outdated Trafford on Day 4 with a lead of 82, however with simply 4 second innings wickets remaining, their hopes resting nearly solely within the fingers of Dinesh Chandimal and Kamindu Mendis.
The vacationers’ final two recognised batters did nicely to thwart England’s push for victory for the whole morning session, the important thing breakthrough eluding Ollie Pope’s males as he cycled by his bowling choices with rising desperation.
Milestones have been introduced up for the Sri Lankan pair both aspect of a half-hour rain delay, Chandimal shaking off any considerations concerning the thumb harm that noticed him retire harm earlier within the innings to convey up a twenty seventh Take a look at fifty within the 73rd over. Eight overs later, Mendis accomplished an excellent hundred, his third in his four-Take a look at profession, slashing Chris Woakes for 4 behind level from the third supply with the brand new ball.
By the point England had taken that new ball, Sri Lanka had nearly doubled their lead over the hosts, and when lunch was taken two overs later they have been 169 runs forward – simply beginning to put a bit stress again on the hosts.
Nonetheless, armed with a bit time to assemble their ideas over the lunch break and the shiny new Dukes ball, England shortly quelled any severe hopes of a dramatic Sri Lankan upset. First Gus Atkinson had Mendis caught by Joe Root at slip for 113, earlier than Matthew Potts eliminated Prabath Jayasuriya and Chandimal in consecutive overs to bowl Sri Lanka out for 326 and depart England chasing 205.
Finally England have been made to work a lot tougher for victory than many had predicted, Pope enduring a testing time in his maiden bow as stand-in skipper. The experiment with makeshift opener Lawrence was neither a catastrophe nor a roaring success, he made 30s each occasions round, whereas Potts’ return to the aspect improved after a disappointing bowling efficiency first time round.
The collection strikes to Lord’s for subsequent week’s Take a look at, with the most important concern for England being the health of Mark Wooden who picked up a thigh harm on the night of Day Three and appears extremely uncertain for the rest of the collection.
