By Joe Mansfield
ENGLAND completed victory over Sri Lanka within an hour’s play on the final day of the Test match in Galle.
The visiting nation scored the 36 runs needed for victory without losing a wicket on the fifth day. Joe Root’s men ended on 76-3 to go 1-0 up in the Moose Cup which is a two-match series.
Johnny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence negotiated their way through what could have been a nerve wrangling final day. The pair combined for a partnership of 62 to save England’s blushes after a poor start to their second innings.
The away side started the day on 38-3 and could have been reduced to four wickets down early on when Dilruwan Perera trapped Lawrence in front of the stumps.
Due to the angle of Perera’s off spin from over the wicket, the umpire felt the ball would slide past leg stump and the bowling side chose not to review the decision.
Sri Lanka were left to rue their decision not to review as replays showed that Lawrence was struck in line and the ball would have gone on to hit the wickets.
Cheered on by their lone supporter watching from a nearby vantage point, England then cruised to victory without hesitation on the fifth morning. The men at the crease knocked off the runs quickly and completed England’s fourth successive away Test victory.
Bairstow hit the winning runs with a firm sweep for four, but the game was won in the first innings. Sri Lanka made a measly 135, whereas England piled on 421 through a double hundred from Joe Root and that proved to be an insurmountable deficit.
The second and final test of the series begins on Friday at the same venue in Galle. Play will begin at 4:30am GMT.
England XI
Z Crawley, D Sibley, J Bairstow, J Root (C), D lawrence, J Buttler (WK), S Curran, D Bess, S Broad, M Wood, J Leach.
Sri Lanka XI
L Thirimane, K Perera, K Mendis, D Chandimal (C), A, Mathews, N Dickwella (WK), D Shanaka, W Hasaranga, D Perera, L Embuldeniya, A Fernando.
