Joe Root Anchors England to Victory Against Spirited Sri Lanka in 1st Test
Joe Root shined again as England defeated Sri Lanka by a thrilling five-wicket margin in the opening Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
With this victory, England will have swept the West Indies 3-0 in series and won four straight Test matches in the summer of 2024.
On an engaging fourth day, a pivotal standoff between Kamindu and Chandimal threatened to reverse the outcome.
Key Performances and Match Scorecard
England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) and 205 for 5 (Root 62*) beat Sri Lanka 236 (Dhananjaya 74, Rathnayake 72) and 326 (Kamindu 113, Chandimal 79) by 5 wickets.
Match Analysis
Late on the fourth afternoon at Emirates Old Trafford, England overcame a spirited display with bat and ball from Sri Lanka to seal a five-wicket victory in the first Test. Joe Root provided the cool head during a crisis, while Jamie Smith capped a Player-of-the-Match-winning performance with a crucial late injection of impetus.
Following a 3-0 triumph over the West Indies in July, the victory made it four games in a row for the 2024 summer. However, as has occasionally been the case in that series, England was not permitted to impose terms with the authority that they would have anticipated halfway through the game.
With Kamindu Mendis scoring a magnificent century, most of which came during a stand of 117 runs with Dinesh Chandimal that took place during the morning session, Sri Lanka managed to establish a formidable goal of 205 to win.
And when Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya led the bowling attack once more, dismissing all three of the top scorers in the first 16 overs of the chase, England had to swallow their Bazball pride in order to carve out a route to win at an exceptionally slow pace of 3.58 an over.
That is, until Smith found his rhythm. Sedate. Despite having just achieved his first century in the opening session, Smith was put in a pressure-filled situation that was unmatched in his brief career as he stepped out to replace Harry Brook with the chase still hanging in the balance at 119 for 4.
England played 14.4 overs, or an hour and a half, between boundaries during Smith’s first 26 balls, an unusually fallow stretch of play for this administration. Smith’s defensive strategy quickly proved up to the task. But the shackles were removed as Jayasuriya cracked consecutive boundaries through the leg-side. After that, he added two more hooks for four off Vishwa Fernando to send Sri Lanka’s pressure fleeing.
Asitha then castled him with a brilliant inswinger for 39 off 48. A further six bounced off down an access tunnel and onto the concourse.
By that point, England only needed 22 runs to win, and thanks to the evening light that was holding up well despite the severe rain that had plagued most of the rest of the nation, Root and Chris Woakes took action just after 7:15 p.m., with Root scoring his 96th career half-century before blazing the winning boundary over long-on.
However, not before he attempted to seal the victory with a misplaced scoop into his grille, a last-minute flourish that demonstrated that, although the team’s prescribed ethos may have lain dormant on this particular occasion, it won’t be suppressed permanently.
Though England’s target was fairly stiff, they would have been chasing even more if England’s seamers hadn’t, just after noon, docked Sri Lanka’s tail in a disciplined manner with the second new ball in hand.
Sri Lanka’s innings concluded much like it had started (on the first day and third), losing their last four wickets in twenty-six balls, including the last three wickets for five in ten balls, but until then, their seventh-wicket stand had flipped the match virtually on its head.
With hardly a moment of concern throughout their 30-over partnership, Sri Lanka changed their match prospects thanks to Kamindu—who scored his third century in as many Tests—and Chandimal—who was last man out for 79 despite having retired hurt on the third afternoon.
After giving up a solid lead of 82 runs with the ball on the third morning, Sri Lanka’s concentration was unflinching as the two resumed on 204 for 6. Before Gus Atkinson forced Kamindu to concede 113 runs just after midday, they had more than doubled that lead, setting up a situation that Woakes and Matthew Potts were eager to seize.
Mark Wood, England’s fastest bowler, had been absent from the start, which had made their troubles even worse. Feeling a pain in his right thigh on Friday night, he exited the field and might be questionable for the remainder of the series.
Overnight, there was substantial debate regarding the benefits of changing balls after the 41st over, which gave England’s seamers a lot more swing on the third night. After 20 more overs of rough play, though, there was little evidence of lateral movement as Kamindu took advantage of a glimmer of width in Woakes’ opening over to smash his first boundary of the day through point.
That started a proactive half-hour in which Chandimal built on his overnight 20 not out by following his partner’s example. Considering the horrific damage Wood had caused to his thumb on the third afternoon, it was amazing he was there at all. After retiring injured on 10, he underwent an X-ray and came back without any problems. However, he later gave up wicketkeeping responsibilities, with Kusal Mendis taking over behind the wickets.
Pope called for improvements for England, but none of them could address a growing opposition. After two centuries and an undefeated 92 in his three prior Test matches, Kamindu entered this match with an average above 100. His strokeplay was on display as he drove and pulled back-to-back boundaries off Atkinson and showed a vicious eye for anything loose from Bashir’s spin.
Kamindu’s concentration was unfazed by a brief glimpse of the new ball prior to the interval or a 30-minute rain delay in the second hour of play. He quickly reached his third Test hundred with a decisive slash through deep third off Woakes, sending England into lunch with a true battle on their hands.
Their immediate prospects were not expected to improve much with the resumption. After the interval, Kamindu attacked, hitting three off-side boundaries as Atkinson was having trouble with his line. However, Pope’s intervention allowed him to quickly adjust to rounding the wicket. At the first slip, Root held on a short chance as Kamindu shaped into his left-handed stance and fenced at the new angle.
Atkinson was removed from the attack almost away, and Potts scored his second of the innings after Brook at second slip misplayed a back-foot blow from Jayasuriya and skilfully retrieved the rebound. After witnessing two crucial opportunities disappear during his outstanding yet underappreciated performance on the third day, Potts gave a pat to his quivering heart in celebration.
With just Asitha for company, Woakes added his third when Vishwa Fernando went down the incorrect line and was struck in front of middle and leg. To cap off an incredibly courageous innings, substitute fielder Harry Singh remained composed at deep cover despite Chandimal’s attempt to cut loose.
When Ben Duckett poked his third delivery down the leg-side on the second ball, Kusal expertly stopped him with his outstretched right glove, almost sending England’s reply into a tailspin. But as Kusal finished the catch, his palm was driving the ball into the ground, and the decision was reversed—a replay of Duckett’s reprieve against Mitchell Starc in the previous Ashes series.
Duckett played for the inswinger that had destroyed him in the first innings, but Asitha, the unlucky bowler, made up in style in his third over, turning the shiny side of his swinging new ball to graze a more regulation edge through to Kusal.
By now, Dan Lawrence had hit Jayasuriya for a brilliantly clean straight six, but in his new position as the opener, his weaknesses outside off were constantly exploited, not least by Asitha, who was once again the best player in Sri Lanka’s attack due to her command of seam and swing.
The next breakthrough, though, came from Jayasuriya. Pope, who had been very cautious early in his innings, attempted a reverse sweep on a purposeful leg-stump line, but he was only able to toe-end an easy opportunity to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip for his second six of the game. And shortly after, a nip-backer trapped 34-year-old Lawrence leg before wicket, sending England to a precarious 70 for 3.
In response, Root and Brook settled in for a traditional rebuilding job, putting on 49 for the fourth wicket at a rate of less than 3.4 an over. This was due to Sri Lanka’s well-organized attack as well as England’s rather shallow batting lineup without Ben Stokes.
When Brook had just four runs to his name, Jayasuriya’s tight line from over the wicket often tempted him to sweep his way through a crowded field behind square. Had Ramesh Mendis, the replacement fielder, clung to his outstretched right hand at backward square, England could have been four down before lunch.
But the following opening was pricked by Jayasuriya’s reversion to circle the wicket. When the ball chipped back to the bowler on 32, Brook did not account for the drift back into his stumps and was given a hard look by Kusal when the replay appeared on the big screen. Root had initially thought the ball had been grounded again.
Smith then emerged, needing 86 more. Ben Foakes was chosen over him primarily because of his perceived shortcomings as an aggressive batter, especially when marshalling the tail. The task at hand, however, was quite different: the defense had to be England’s most devoted and admirable matchwinner’s reliable partner.
Smith more than demonstrated himself worthy of the assignment. In the end, though, Root—whose senior status made him even more dominant in Stokes‘ absence—was England’s key man.