Joe Root’s gritty unbeaten 62 guided England to a five-wicket win in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Set 205 to win, England were faltering at 56-2 when Root came into bat before tea on the fourth day. But together with Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook (32) he shared a grinding partnership of 49 in 20 overs - a far cry from England’s ‘Bazball’ approach of recent years, although a still slow outfield made boundaries hard to come by.
The match, however, was back in the balance when Brook chipped a return catch to Jayasuriya, with England now 119-4 and still needing a further 86 runs to win. But Jamie Smith, fresh from a maiden Test century in the first innings, gave Root fine support with a brisk 39 during a stand of 64 as England went 1-0 up in a three-match series after finishing on 205-5.
It was another sign of the 24-year-old wicketkeeper’s admirable big-match temperament, Smith’s performances with the bat in Manchester minimising the impact of regular captain Ben Stokes’s absence with a series-ending torn hamstring.
That Sri Lanka took this match so deep into the fourth day was a testament to their resilience after they had collapsed to 6-3 on the opening morning.
They continued that fight in the field on Saturday before Smith broke the shackles with successive fours off left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya before later pulling the tiring bowler for six.
By the time he was bowled by Asitha Fernando, England were in sight of victory at 183-5. Soon afterwards, Root went to fifty before ending the match with just his second four in 128 balls faced when he lofted Jayasuriya down the ground.
Earlier, Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis scored his third hundred in just four Tests as he made 113 in a second-innings total of 326, having come in with his side in trouble at 95-4. Together with Dinesh Chandimal (79), he shared a seventh-wicket stand of 117 in 30 overs. England suffered a setback before play started on Saturday when express quick Mark Wood was ruled out with a thigh injury suffered while bowling late on Friday.
Sri Lanka resumed on 204-6, just 82 runs ahead, after Smith’s 111 had been the cornerstone of England’s first-innings 358.
Mendis, dropped on 39, was 56 not out and Chandimal 20 not out.
Mendis was quickly into his stride on Saturday, The 25-year-old left-hander, drove fast bowler Gus Atkinson through the covers and pulled him behind square for fours off successive deliveries.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka 1st Innings 236
England 1st Innings 358
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 (Singh) b Potts 79
D. de Silva lbw b Potts 11
Ka. 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
A. Fernando not out 0
Extras (lb9, nb1, w6) 16
Total (all out, 89.3 overs, 438 mins) 326
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Madushka), 2-1 (K Mendis), 3-52 (Karunaratne), 4-95 (De Silva), 5-173 (Mathews), 6-190 (Rathnayake), 7-307 (Ka Mendis), 8-321 (Jayasuriya), 9-322 (V Fernando), 10-326 (Chandimal)
Bowling: Woakes 22-6-58-3; Atkinson 17-2-89-2; Bashir 20-0-77-0 (1nb); Wood 10.2-1-36-1; Potts 17.3-4-47-3 (2w); Root 1.4-0-5-1; Lawrence 1-0-5-0
England 2nd Innings (target: 205)
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 and b Jayasuriya 32
J. Smith b A Fernando 39
C. Woakes not out 8
Extras (lb5, nb3, w5) 13
Total (5 wkts, 57.2 overs, 252 mins) 205
Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Duckett), 2-56 (Pope), 3-70 (Lawrence), 4-119 (Brook), 5-183 (Smith)
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)
Result: England won by five wickets
Player of the match: Jamie Smith (ENG)
Series: England lead three-match series 1-0
Remaining Fixtures
August 29-September 2: 2nd Test, Lord’s
September 6-10: 3rd Test, The Oval