GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Dom Sibley scored an unbeaten half-century as England chased a target of 164 to secure a sweep of the series on Monday, beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second Test on a day of drama at the Galle International Stadium.
England scored 164-4, with Sibley 56 not out and Jos Buttler unbeaten on 46 as they overcame jittery moments to complete a 2-0 series victory.
The tourists reversed a deficit of 37 runs after the first inning to win a sixth consecutive Test in Sri Lanka. England earlier dismissed Sri Lanka at 126 in their second innings, giving themselves a confidence boost before starting a four-Test series in India next month.
The England running hunt got nervous as they lost their first four wickets for 89 runs, including a tired-looking Joe Root, with Sri Lankan dangerous spinner Lasith Embuldeniya threatening with the new ball and grabbing three wickets for a game total of 10.
But a 75-run unbeaten partnership between Sibley, who had previously failed with the bat on tour, and Buttler carried England home as they demonstrated the claim that their hosts had no flaw in their batting.
“I was happy to be able to spend time at the crease and get the boys over the line,” said Sibley.
Sri Lanka must learn to bat like Joe Root, the skipper said after losing to England
England, who added just five runs to their overnight count before being dismissed for 344, took just over a session to turn the contest on their head as Dom Bess and his spin partner Jack Leach claimed four wickets each the Sri Lankan faction.
Bess 4-49 and Leach 4-59 took over as the home batting line was undone by the turn of the wicket and rash shots. It featured a wild sweep by veteran Angelo Mathews as he was bowled by Bess for five, and a slogan top-kicked by captain Dinesh Chandimal (9) and expertly captured by James Anderson off Leach.
“We have no excuses, we made mistakes and we were disregarded,” said Chandimal.
Embuldeniya, with a fast 40 off 42 balls, was the only home batsman to make more than 20 and his ninth wicket partnership with Suranga Lakmal helped set England a tougher target.
But he was eventually dismissed from Root’s part-time bowling, and claimed another wicket with his next ball by bowling Asitha Ferando to wrap the pubs. Root finished with figures of 2-0 off 11 balls.
“It was great to win after losing the wicket throw we had for much of the match,” said the England captain.
England won the first Test last week of seven wickets in a winning start to a year in which they will play 17 Test matches.
First SRI LANKA Innings 381
England 1st Innings
Zak Crawley c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 5
Dominic Sibley lbw Lasith Embuldeniya 0
Jonny Bairstow c Oshada Fernando b Lasith Embuldeniya 28
Joe Root Run Out Oshada Fernando 186
Dan Lawrence c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 3
Jos Buttler c Oshada Fernando b Ramesh Mendis 55
Sam Curran c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 13
Dom Bess c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 32
Mark Wood c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 1
Jack Leach lbw Dilruwan Perera 1
James Anderson Not Out 4
Additions 8b 3 lbs 5nb 0pen 0w 16
Total (116.1 overs) 344 all out
The Fall of the wickets: 1-4 Sibley, 2-5 Crawley, 3-116 Bairstow, 4-132 Lawrence, 5-229 Buttler, 6-252 Curran, 7-333 Bess, 8-337 Wood, 9-339 Root, 10 -344 Leach
Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 16 – 7 – 31- 0, Lasith Embuldeniya 42 – 6 -137 – 7 (4nb),
Asitha Fernando 10 – 2 – 31 – 0, Dilruwan Perera 32.1 – 4 – 86 – 1 (1nb),
Ramesh Mendis 16 – 1 – 48 – 1.
SRI LANKA 2nd inn
Kusal Perera lbw Jack Leach 14
Lahiru Thirimanne c Zak Crawley b Jack Leach 13
Oshada Fernando c Zak Crawley b Dom Bess 3
Angelo Mathews b Dom Bess 5
Dinesh Chandimal c James Anderson b Jack Leach 9
Niroshan Dickwella c Dan Lawrence b Dom Bess 7
Ramesh Mendis c Jos Buttler b Jack Leach 16
Dilruwan Perera c Zak Crawley b Dom Bess 4
Suranga Lakmal Not Out 11
Lasith Embuldeniya c Jonny Bairstow b Joe Root 40
Asitha Fernando b Joe Root 0
Additions 3b 0 lbs 1nb 0pen 0w 4
Total (35.5 overs) 126 all out
The Fall of the wickets: 1-19 Perera, 2-29 Fernando, 3-37 Thirimanne, 4-37 Mathews, 5-47 Chandimal, 6-66 Dickwella, 7-70 Perera, 8-78 Wanigamuni, 9-126 Embuldeniya, 10 -126 Fernando
Bowling: James Anderson 2 – 0 – 6 – 0, Sam Curran 2 – 0 – 9 – 0,
Dom Bess 16 – 1 – 49 – 4, Jack Leach 14 – 1 – 59 – 4 (1nb)
ENGLAND 2nd pub
Zak Crawley c Oshada Fernando b Lasith Embuldeniya 13
Dominic Sibley Not Out 56
Jonny Bairstow lbw Lasith Embuldeniya 29
Joe Root b Ramesh Mendis 11
Dan Lawrence c Niroshan Dickwella b Lasith Embuldeniya 2
Jos Buttler Not Out 46
Additions 0b 4 lbs 3nb 0pen 0w 7
Total (43.3 overs) 164-4
The Fall of the wickets: 1-17 Crawley, 2-62 Bairstow, 3-84 Root, 4-89 Lawrence
Without Batting: Curran, Bess, Leach, Wood, Anderson
Bowls: Lasu Embuldeniya 20 – 3 – 73 – 3 (2nb),
Dilruwan Perera 13.3 – 1 – 39 – 0 (1nb), Ramesh Mendis 10 – 0 – 48 – 1.