Resolute Root resists rampant rivals, resilient England rout SL in series opener

Manchester: Joe Root hit an unbeaten 62 to anchor England to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka late on Day 4 of the first Test on Saturday.

Set 205 to win, England was faltering at 70-3 but Root and Harry Brook (32) steadied the innings before the former captain guided the team home to its target as shadows lengthened on a sun-baked evening at Old Trafford.

The English finished on 205-5 to secure a fourth straight Test victory this summer, after beating the West Indies 3-0 in July.

The win in Manchester was also significant in that it might signal a reset of “Bazball” - the nickname of the expansive approach favored by the leadership team of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

Root and his teammates picked their moments to attack as the run-rate fell to around 3.5 per over by the end of the second innings.

Earlier, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 326 soon after lunch, collapsing following the departure of No. 7 batter Kamindu Mendis for 113 - the third century of his four-match Test career. Dinesh Chandimal was the last batter out for 79, with the final four wickets tumbling in 26 balls.

Earlier, England were once again left looking to star batsman Joe Root after losing early wickets in their run-chase for victory in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Set 205 to win, England were 82-3 in their second innings at tea on the fourth day, still requiring 123 more runs to go 1-0 up in this three-match series after Kamindu Mendis’s brilliant century kept a gutsy Sri Lanka in the game.

Root was 13 not out and Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook, fresh from a first-innings fifty, unbeaten on six.

England opener Ben Duckett, almost out for two, fell for 11 when caught behind by stand-in wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, deputising for the injured Dinesh Chandimal, off Asitha Fernando.

And Root came in at 56-2 after stand-in England captain Ollie Pope, leading the side for the first time after Ben Stokes was ruled out with a torn hamstring, was out for six for the second time in the match when he spooned an attempted reverse sweep off left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya to slip.

Dan Lawrence, recalled to open after Zak Crawley was ruled out with a broken finger, fell for 34 when he was lbw to an off-cutter from debutant paceman Milan Rathnayake, a decision upheld on umpire’s call.

Brook was almost out for six when diving substitute fielder Ramesh Mendis just failed to hold what would have been a spectacular one-handed diving catch at backward square leg following a sweep off the dangerous Jayasuriya.

Meanwhile, 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 Sri Lanka in trouble at 95-4.

Together with Chandimal (79), he shared a seventh-wicket stand of 117 in 30 overs.

England suffered a setback before play started 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 Jamie Smith’s maiden Test century had been the cornerstone of England’s first-innings 358.

Kamindu Mendis, dropped on 39, was 56 not out and Chandimal 20 not out. Kamindu Mendis was quickly into his stride on Saturday, having missed Sri Lanka’s lone warm-up match against the second-string England Lions at Worcester last week after visa problems delayed his entry into the UK,

The 25-year-old left-hander, drove fast bowler Gus Atkinson through the covers and pulled him behind square for fours off successive deliveries.

Agencies