SL vs ENG 1st Test Report: Joe Root, Dom Bess shine as England thrash Sri Lanka by 7 wickets to take 1-0 lead

SL vs ENG 1st Test Report: England batsman Jonny Bairstow hit the final run on the morning of day five to wrap up a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka on Monday. Bairstow and Daniel Lawrence shared an unbeaten 62-run stand to help England secure a 1-0 lead in the Test series. Skipper Joe Root double ton and Dom Bess five-for in the first innings had set the stage for a victory before England got off to a wobbly start in their second essay on Sunday.

On the fifth day, England needed 36 runs to win the game, and Bairstow and Lawrence ensured Sri Lanka wasn’t able to make any further inroads. Resuming the innings, England took just 9.2 overs to seal a comfortable win in the first Test.

For England, if Dom Bess had stolen the show with the ball in the first innings, Jack Leach impressed with his five-for in the second essay.

Earlier on day four, resuming the day from 156/2, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start as Lasith Embuldeniya was sent back to the pavilion on a duck.

Lahiru Thirimanne was joined by Angelo Mathews and both played brilliantly, taking the team over the 200-run mark. Thirimanne played a knock of 111 runs before Sam Curran dismissed him, reducing Sri Lanka to 210/4. Dinesh Chandimal then came out to bat but only managed to add 20 runs on the board before Dom Bess took his wicket.

Mathews completed his half-century and kept the scoreboard running but he did not get support from the other end as Sri Lanka kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Mathews too gave away his wicket after scoring 71 runs and Sri Lanka was bundled out on 359.

ENGLAND 2ND INNINGS (TARGET: 74 RUNS)
BATSMEN R B M 4s 6s SR
Zak Crawley c Mendis b Embuldeniya 8 21 16 1 0 38.10
Dom Sibley  b Embuldeniya 2 5 3 0 0 40.00
Jonny Bairstow  not out 35 65 87 2 0 53.85
Joe Root (c) run out (†Dickwella) 1 3 6 0 0 33.33
Dan Lawrence not out 21 52 69 0 0 40.38
Extras (lb 9) 9
TOTAL (24.2 Ov, RR: 3.12) 76/3
Did not bat: Jos Buttler †, Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Dom Sibley, 0.6 ov), 2-12 (Zak Crawley, 4.6 ov), 3-14 (Joe Root, 5.6 ov)
BOWLING O M R W ECON WD NB
Lasith Embuldeniya 12 3 29 2 2.42 0 0
Dilruwan Perera 11.2 2 34 0 3.00 0 0
PWH de Silva 1 0 4 0 4.00 0 0
SRI LANKA 2ND INNINGS
BATSMEN R B M 4s 6s SR
Kusal Perera c Leach b Curran 62 109 160 5 1 56.88
Lahiru Thirimanne c †Buttler b Curran 111 251 361 12 0 44.22
Kusal Mendis c †Buttler b Leach 15 65 102 1 0 23.08
Lasith Embuldeniya c Sibley b Bess 0 11 15 0 0 0.00
Angelo Mathews c Root b Leach 71 219 344 4 0 32.42
Dinesh Chandimal (c) c Root b Bess 20 28 45 3 0 71.43
Niroshan Dickwella † c †Buttler b Bess 29 74 112 1 0 39.19
Dasun Shanaka  b Leach 4 5 5 0 0 80.00
PWH de Silva c Root b Leach 12 18 27 2 0 66.67
Dilruwan Perera st †Buttler b Leach 24 38 47 5 0 63.16
Asitha Fernando not out 0 6 24 0 0 0.00
Extras (b 7, lb 1, nb 3) 11
TOTAL (136.5 Ov, RR: 2.62) 359
Fall of wickets: 1-101 (Kusal Perera, 37.4 ov), 2-155 (Kusal Mendis, 59.5 ov), 3-158 (Lasith Embuldeniya, 62.6 ov), 4-210 (Lahiru Thirimanne, 82.1 ov), 5-243 (Dinesh Chandimal, 91.3 ov), 6-291 (Niroshan Dickwella, 115.1 ov), 7-296 (Dasun Shanaka, 116.2 ov), 8-314 (PWH de Silva, 122.2 ov), 9-352 (Dilruwan Perera, 132.5 ov), 10-359 (Angelo Mathews, 136.5 ov)
BOWLING O M R W ECON WD NB
Stuart Broad 17 11 14 0 0.82 0 0
Sam Curran 11 1 37 2 3.36 0 1
Dom Bess 33 4 100 3 3.03 0 0
Mark Wood 21 5 49 0 2.33 0 0
Jack Leach 41.5 6 122 5 2.92 0 1
Joe Root 11 1 19 0 1.73 0 0
Dan Lawrence 2 0 10 0 5.00 0 1
ENGLAND 1ST INNINGS
BATSMEN R B M 4s 6s SR
Zak Crawley c de Silva b Embuldeniya 9 26 36 1 0 34.62
Dom Sibley c Thirimanne b Embuldeniya 4 15 20 0 0 26.67
Jonny Bairstow c Mendis b Embuldeniya 47 93 154 2 0 50.54
Joe Root (c) c Embuldeniya b MDK Perera 228 321 476 18 1 71.03
Dan Lawrence c Mendis b MDK Perera 73 150 182 6 1 48.67
Jos Buttler † c †Dickwella b Fernando 30 57 78 3 0 52.63
Sam Curran  b Fernando 0 1 3 0 0 0.00
Dom Bess run out (sub [M Bhanuka]/†Dickwella) 0 4 12 0 0 0.00
Jack Leach lbw b MDK Perera 4 20 32 1 0 20.00
Mark Wood c †Dickwella b MDK Perera 2 9 12 0 0 22.22
Stuart Broad not out 11 13 24 2 0 84.62
Extras (b 7, nb 6) 13
TOTAL (117.1 Ov, RR: 3.59) 421
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Dom Sibley, 4.2 ov), 2-17 (Zak Crawley, 8.4 ov), 3-131 (Jonny Bairstow, 42.2 ov), 4-304 (Dan Lawrence, 85.3 ov), 5-372 (Jos Buttler, 104.1 ov), 6-372 (Sam Curran, 104.2 ov), 7-382 (Dom Bess, 105.6 ov), 8-398 (Jack Leach, 111.2 ov), 9-406 (Mark Wood, 113.4 ov), 10-421 (Joe Root, 117.1 ov)
BOWLING O M R W ECON WD NB
Lasith Embuldeniya 45 4 176 3 3.91 0 2
Asitha Fernando 14 1 44 2 3.14 0 0
PWH de Silva 15 1 63 0 4.20 0 2
Dilruwan Perera 36.1 2 109 4 3.01 0 2
Dasun Shanaka 7 1 22 0 3.14 0 0
SRI LANKA 1ST INNINGS
BATSMEN R B M 4s 6s SR
Lahiru Thirimanne c Bairstow b Broad 4 22 39 0 0 18.18
Kusal Perera c Root b Bess 20 28 67 2 0 71.43
Kusal Mendis c †Buttler b Broad 0 2 4 0 0 0.00
Angelo Mathews c Root b Broad 27 54 101 1 1 50.00
Dinesh Chandimal (c) c Curran b Leach 28 71 78 1 0 39.44
Niroshan Dickwella † c Sibley b Bess 12 21 44 1 0 57.14
Dasun Shanaka c †Buttler b Bess 23 48 60 3 0 47.92
PWH de Silva  b Bess 19 22 41 2 0 86.36
Dilruwan Perera  b Bess 0 2 4 0 0 0.00
Lasith Embuldeniya run out (Leach) 0 1 5 0 0 0.00
Asitha Fernando not out 0 7 12 0 0 0.00
Extras (lb 1, nb 1) 2
TOTAL (46.1 Ov, RR: 2.92) 135
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Lahiru Thirimanne, 6.3 ov), 2-16 (Kusal Mendis, 6.5 ov), 3-25 (Kusal Perera, 10.2 ov), 4-81 (Angelo Mathews, 28.6 ov), 5-81 (Dinesh Chandimal, 29.2 ov), 6-105 (Niroshan Dickwella, 38.1 ov), 7-126 (Dasun Shanaka, 42.3 ov), 8-126 (Dilruwan Perera, 42.5 ov), 9-130 (Lasith Embuldeniya, 43.5 ov), 10-135 (PWH de Silva, 46.1 ov)
BOWLING O M R W ECON WD NB
Stuart Broad 9 3 20 3 2.22 0 0
Sam Curran 4 2 8 0 2.00 0 0
Mark Wood 6 1 21 0 3.50 0 0
Dom Bess 10.1 3 30 5 2.95 0 0
Jack Leach 17 2 55 1 3.24 0 1