9 November 2018 05:06 pm Views - 3065
England claimed their first away Test victory in 13 matches on Friday with a commanding 211-run win against Sri Lanka in Galle, with Moeen Ali claiming his second four-wicket haul of the game.
Last out was silver fox Rangana Herath, cricket's most successful left-arm spinner in his swansong before retirement, run out for five.
The hosts, chasing a notional 462 victory in the first match of a three-Test series, could only muster 250 on day four, with Jack Leach taking three wickets to go with Ali's four, with Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes getting one each.
England had secured a first-innings lead of 139 thanks to a century on debut by Ben Foakes — Man of the Match — and a formidable spin attack led by Ali and assisted ably by Leach and Rashid, restricting Sri Lanka to 203.
In England's second innings, an assured unbeaten 146 by Keaton Jennings, his first century since a ton on his 2016 debut that has silenced his critics for now at least, allowed Root to declare at 322 for six.
"Our batting was below-par during the game, you can't stay in the game (with this kind of batting)," Sri Lanka's captain Dinesh Chandimal said.
"Credit goes to England, they played some outstanding cricket. We had a really good start in the first session but we couldn't capitalise on it," he said.
After resuming from their overnight score of 15/0, Sri Lanka's openers Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne withstood the pressure from England's formidable bowling attack for the first hour of day four on Friday.
Dhananjaya de Silva, after a confident start, was caught at first slip by skipper Joe Root off Stokes in the last over of the morning session for 21.
One ball earlier, de Silva had been given out caught behind flashing at a Stokes delivery wide of the off stump, but he was reprieved on review.
After lunch Kusal Mendis hit Leach for four over his head but attempting a repeat the next ball skied the ball to Ali and departed for 46.
He had earlier appeared confident at the crease, employing the sweep shot especially well against all England's spinners, while secure in defence.
Chandimal, suffering from a groin injury that kept him off the pitch all of Thursday, was bowled by Leach for 11.
The final session began badly for the hosts. Niroshan Dickwella fell the first ball after tea, caught adroitly by Stokes one-handed at slip off Ali for 16.
Soon afterwards Angelo Mathews -- dropped on 18 by James Anderson -- went for 53, caught by Jos Buttler at midwicket with Ali again the wicket-taker.
He was followed into the pavilion by Akila Dananjaya for 8 before Herath -- perhaps a yard or two slower than in his pomp -- was beaten by Stokes's quick arm as the 40-year-old dived for his crease.
England's varied attack, with three quicks and three spinners, applied substantial pressure, with the slightly expensive Rashid the only minor disappointment.
"To be able to contribute to the team is just amazing," Foakes said after being named man-of-the-match.
"One of the best weeks of my career so far, if not the best. Yes, it's a dream come true to be fair," said the Surrey wicketkeeper-batsman, brought in to replace the injured Jonny Bairstow.
Scorebord
England 1st innings
Rory Burns c Niroshan Dickwella b Suranga Lakmal 9
Keaton Jennings b Dilruwan Perera 46
Moeen Ali b Suranga Lakmal 0
Joe Root b Rangana Herath 35
Ben Stokes b Dilruwan Perera 7
Jos Buttler c Niroshan Dickwella b Dilruwan Perera 38
Ben Foakes c Dhananjaya de Silva b Suranga Lakmal 107
Sam Curran c Dinesh Chandimal b Akila Dananjaya 48
Adil Rashid c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilruwan Perera 35
Jack Leach c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilruwan Perera 15
James Anderson Not Out 0
Extras 1b 1lb 0nb 0pen 0w 2
Total (97.0 overs) 342 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-10 Burns, 2-10 Ali, 3-72 Root, 4-98 Jennings, 5-103 Stokes, 6-164 Buttler, 7-252 Curran, 8-306 Rashid, 9-330 Leach, 10-342 Foakes
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Suranga Lakmal 18 5 73 3 4.06
Dilruwan Perera 31 6 75 5 2.42
Akila Dananjaya 20 2 96 1 4.80
Rangana Herath 25 4 78 1 3.12
Dhananjaya de Silva 3 0 18 0 6.00
Sri Lanka 1st innings
Dimuth Karunaratne c Ben Foakes b James Anderson 4
Kaushal Silva lbw Sam Curran 1
Dhananjaya de Silva b Moeen Ali 14
Kusal Mendis c Ben Stokes b Jack Leach 19
Angelo Mathews c Keaton Jennings b Moeen Ali 52
Dinesh Chandimal st Ben Foakes b Adil Rashid 33
Niroshan Dickwella c Jos Buttler b Moeen Ali 28
Dilruwan Perera c Jos Buttler b Jack Leach 21
Akila Dananjaya c Ben Foakes b Moeen Ali 0
Suranga Lakmal c James Anderson b Adil Rashid 15
Rangana Herath Not Out 14
Extras 0b 2lb 0nb 0pen 0w 2
Total (68.0 overs) 203 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Karunaratne, 2-10 Silva, 3-34 Mendis, 4-40 de Silva, 5-115 Chandimal, 6-136 Mathews, 7-171 Dickwella, 8-173 Perera, 9-175 Perera, 10-203 Lakmal
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
James Anderson 10 0 26 1 2.60
Sam Curran 6 1 16 1 2.67
Jack Leach 18 2 41 2 2.28
Moeen Ali 21 4 66 4 3.14
Adil Rashid 9 1 30 2 3.33
Ben Stokes 4 0 22 0 5.50
England 2nd innings
Rory Burns Run Out Dimuth Karunaratne 23
Keaton Jennings Not Out 146
Moeen Ali c Rangana Herath b Dilruwan Perera 3
Joe Root c Niroshan Dickwella b Rangana Herath 3
Ben Stokes b Dilruwan Perera 62
Jos Buttler c Kaushal Silva b Rangana Herath 35
Ben Foakes c Kusal Mendis b Akila Dananjaya 37
Extras 4b 7lb 2nb 0pen 0w 13
Total (93.0 overs) 322 decl
Fall of Wickets : 1-60 Burns, 2-67 Ali, 3-74 Root, 4-181 Stokes, 5-258 Buttler, 6-319 Foakes
Did Not Bat : Curran, Rashid, Leach, Anderson
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Dilruwan Perera 30 3 94 2 3.13
Suranga Lakmal 9 2 30 0 3.33 2nb
Rangana Herath 23 1 59 2 2.57
Akila Dananjaya 18.5 2 87 1 4.62
Dhananjaya de Silva 12.1 2 41 0 3.37
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Dimuth Karunaratne c&b Moeen Ali 26
Kaushal Silva lbw Jack Leach 30
Dhananjaya de Silva c Joe Root b Ben Stokes 21
Kusal Mendis c Moeen Ali b Jack Leach 45
Angelo Mathews c Jos Buttler b Moeen Ali 53
Dinesh Chandimal b Jack Leach 1
Niroshan Dickwella c Ben Stokes b Moeen Ali 16
Dilruwan Perera c Ben Stokes b Adil Rashid 30
Akila Dananjaya c Ben Stokes b Moeen Ali 8
Suranga Lakmal Not Out 14
Rangana Herath Run Out Ben Stokes 5
Extras 0b 1lb 0nb 0pen 0w 1
Total (85.1 overs) 250 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-51 Silva, 2-59 Karunaratne, 3-98 de Silva, 4-144 Mendis, 5-154 Chandimal, 6-190 Dickwella, 7-197 Mathews, 8-229 Perera, 9-239 Perera, 10-250 Herath
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Sam Curran 5 1 15 0 3.00
James Anderson 12 2 27 0 2.25
Moeen Ali 20 2 71 4 3.55
Adil Rashid 18.1 0 59 1 3.25
Jack Leach 21 1 60 3 2.86
Ben Stokes 8 2 16 1 2.00
Joe Root 1 0 1 0 1.00