On this day in 2018: England win their first Test series in Sri Lanka
England were set to end 2018 with a full tour of Sri Lanka after enjoying success in ODI and Test series against India at home. They began the tour with a 3-1 victory in the 5-match ODI series and a comfortable 30-run win in the one-off T20I before the three Tests.
The visiting team began the series in hope of ending their 17-year wait for a Test series win on Sri Lankan soil. Their last series triumph was in 2001 when they clinched a series by 2-1. This 3-match series in 2018 began in Galle where debutant Ben Foakes made 107 while opener Keaton Jennings smashed an unbeaten 146 to guide England to a 1-0 lead in the series.
Curran’s counter-attack boosts England
In the crucial 2nd Test match held in Pallekele, England were 176/7 on Day 1 after electing to bat first. A counter-attacking 67-ball 63 by Jos Buttler wasn’t enough to rescue the Englishmen. But Sam Curran’s handy knock down the order acted as a boost to England who ended up scoring 290. Curran added 45 runs for the 8th wicket with Adil Rashid who scored 31 from 52 balls.
Curran continued to swing his willow and shared a 60-run stand for the final wicket alongside James Anderson (7). The southpaw smashed as many as seven sixes on his way to 64 off 119 balls. Niroshan Dickwella’s 85 then helped Sri Lanka achieve a first-innings lead of 46 runs.
Root’s hundred puts England on top
Captain Joe Root stepped up in the second essay with an aggressive hundred to put his team on top. Root hit ten fours and two sixes on the way to his 124. Root’s hundred got England to 346/10 in the second innings and England set a target of 301 in front of the hosts. Fifties from Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews kept Sri Lanka’s hope alive.
The final day (18 November) began with Sri Lanka stranded at 226/7 and another 75 runs to be achieved. Dickwella’s quick 35 took the Lankans to 240/7 before they lost the remaining three wickets for three runs. England sealed a 57-run win to take a series-winning lead of 2-0 and put an end to their 17-year wait. No England pacer managed to pick a wicket as their spinners claimed 19 wickets while another wicket fell via run-out.
Sri Lankan skipper Suranga Lakmal took the first wicket of the match (5th over of the Test) which also remained the only wicket picked up by a pacer in the entire Test. The spin bowlers finished the game with 38 wickets (Sri Lanka 19, England 19) to their tally which turned out to be a Test match record. England completed a 3-0 whitewash following their 42-run win in the 3rd Test at Colombo’s SSC.
