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That's all we have from this contest as I, Lavil Saldanha, and my colleague, Pradeep, take your leave. Join us for the 2nd Test on 29th July. Do check Sportskeeda for the latest content in the world of sports. Until next time, it is goodbye from our sides, SEE YA!
Ollie Pope (captain, England): It was a kind of the pitch that suited the new ball and once 15-20 overs passed we had to cash in. Credit to Woaksey and Gus. (About Root) Everyone likes him when he walks out in the middle and there was a sense of confidence when he was in the middle. (On Jamie Smith) I had no doubt, there a few doubts early in your career. He transformed him game and couldn't be happier for him. (About his experience as a first time captain for England) It was good, enjoyed it in the field and found different ways of picking up 20 wickets. The first day was a bit more taxing but then I got used to it
Dhananjaya de Silva (captain, Sri Lanka): I would say that, pleased with the second inning batting and bowling, than the first inning, we didn't do well overall. Even in the bowling, we didn't put the bowl in good areas, Jamie batted well and got England the lead. I'm confident with the batters, but they need to execute the plans, England have a very good bowling and batting and we need to pull up the socks. Kamindu was amongst the runs, he's averaging 108 now, delivering the goods for us. I will never give up, we have two more chances, but we need to execute our plans.
Jamie Smith is the Player of the match! Here's what he has to say: It's a great one to milestone to tick off I guess, having missed out by five runs in the previous series, nice to get over the line this time. Slightly attritional at times, tot of credit goes to the way our bowlers bowled, with not much on the wicket, stuck out and put us in the lead was incredible. I think when you come off after day's play, you see your phone, the messages you see and everyone played a part in your journey, whoever it be, going into the county part way, very proud moment for me. Not particularly, I was trying to think get out of it as quickly as possible, find a way to hit the boundary, it's a relief to get over the line, it was tricky bowling in the second innings. Semi-difficult chase, tt's a nice wicket, they bowled nicely, kept straight field and made difficult for us to score. Root was obviously there, just anchored the innings, just allowed people to play their natural game, it was hard fought four days. Really enjoyable team to be part of, lots of learnings to take, I'm really enjoying it, hopefully it can continue. Hopefully not made a mistake, but you never know.
England beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets and take a 1-0 series lead
4th Innings: England score 205/5 in 57.2 overs Joe Root: 62(128b)* | Jamie Smith: 39(48b) Asitha Fernando: 2/25 (12 overs) | Prabath Jayasuriya: 2/98 (25.2 overs)
That's it for the first Test. England hold their own in the nervy moments and have taken the series lead. Ollie Pope's captaincy starts off with a win and England make it four in a row in their home summer.
England lost one early with Ben Duckett dismissed cheaply. Ollie Pope had a failed outing with the bat in hand with Dan Lawrence yet again putting on a dodgy stand in the middle. Joe Root and Harry Brook were slow to get off the blocks, but they managed to get the runs flowing. At one point, there were too many dry spells and Brook also lost his wicket, but Jamie Smith played an excellent knock, lending a hand to Root, who got to his 50 and also knocked off the chase with a boundary, helping the Three Lions take a 1-0 series lead.
Sri Lanka have themselves to blam. Periods of inconsistency cost them the game. Prabath Jayasuriya and Asitha Fernando plugged the flow of runs from one end, but inconsistent bowling and lack of discipline from Milan Rathnayake and Vishwa Fernando ensured that the pressure of runs never got to the English batters. Lack of usage of spinners can also be accounted for their loss, something which Dhananjaya de Silva will be keeping in mind along with good use of reviews.
57.2 Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, FOUR! ROOT FINISHES THE GAME IN STYLE! England go 1-0 up in the series, Root fittingly hits the winning runs. Root steps out of the bunker and slams the length delivery over the top of mid-on, runs away and finds the ropes to seal the deal.
57.1 Prabath Jayasuriya to Joe Root, flighted the length delivery on the stumps, Root comes forward and smothers.
It will be interesting to see whether Root goes for a lap scoop again or decides to deal in singles and knock this game off
57
overs
201/5score
1
0
0
0
0
1
runs
Joe Root*
58(126)
Chris Woakes
8(18)
Milan Rathnayake
1/31
56.6 Milan Rathnayake to Joe Root, back of a length on the middle and leg. Root tucked it behind square on the on-side for a single.