Ten on Ten! England bowlers create unbelievable record in Galle triumph
Some stats can blow your mind. And England bowlers achieved something exactly like that during the course of their six-wicket triumph over Sri Lanka in the second Test at Galle.
In Sri Lanka’s first innings, all the ten wickets were taken by the pacers. James Anderson picked up 6 for 40, Mark Wood 3 for 84 and Sam Curran 1 for 60.
Then, in Sri Lanka’s second innings, the spinners dominated as they claimed all the scalps. Off-spinner Dom Bess had figures of 4 for 49, left-arm spinner Jack Leach took 4 for 59 while part-timer Joe Root, who is also the England captain, helped himself to two wickets at the end.
This is the first time in Test history that fast bowlers took all 10 wickets in one innings and spinners got all the 10 scalps in the other essay.
Thanks to England’s brilliance with the ball, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 126, leaving the visitors to chase a tricky target of 164.
Sibley, Buttler shine after England bowlers dominate
Dominic Sibley scored an unbeaten 56 and Jos Buttler made a quick 46 not out from 48, ensuring England bowlers’ amazing effort did not go in vain.
England chased down the 164 required for victory with six wickets in hand to clinch the two-Test series 2-0. The visitors got off to a bad start as Lasith Embuldeniya sent bak Zak Crawley for 13.
Jonny Bairstow came in and batted aggressively, but his attacking instinct also led to his dismissal as he was back in the hut for 29 from 28, trapped leg before by Embuldeniya.
Joe Root (11) and Daniel Lawrence (2) perished cheaply, leaving England in a spot of bother at 89 for 4. Buttler and Sibley, however, combined to take England home without any further trouble.
Though Root made a fine 186 in the first innings, the England bowlers should get a lot of credit for the team’s victory. They restricted the hosts to under 400 despite Angelo Mathews’ hundred and Niroshan Dickwella’s 92.
In the second innings, Sri Lanka were rolled over in 35.5 overs as England spinners ran riot. Sri Lanka conquered, England bowlers will face a much bigger challenge when they take on India in India in a four-Test series, starting February 5 in Chennai.