England win by five wickets

OLD TRAFFORD — Joe Root’s gutsy half-century guided England to a nervy five-wicket win in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester.

The hosts needed 58 overs to get to their target of 205 on a difficult Old Trafford pitch. And Root was the man who made the difference as he scored 62 during an innings containing just two boundaries from 128 balls.

This was a far tougher test than anything the West Indies had thrown at England earlier in the summer.

Root, though, couldn’t have done it without Jamie Smith, who followed up his maiden century in the first innings with a valuable 39 from 48 balls that took England within 22 runs of victory by the time he was bowled by Asitha Fernando.

Smith had come to the crease with the hosts 119 for four and 86 away from victory. After scoring six off his first 23 deliveries he took the game on.

Root then finished off the job, to put his team 1-0 up in the three-match series ahead of next week’s second Test at Lord’s.

After Sri Lanka started the day 82 ahead on 204 for six in their second innings, England went wicketless during a first session that saw Kamindu Mendis score a fine century.

England took the new ball just before the interval and Gus Atkinson struck with it 14 minutes into the afternoon session when he had Kamindu caught behind on 113.

It sparked a collapse that saw Sri Lanka lose their last four wickets for 19 and handed the hosts what looked like a relatively simple run chase.

But the losses of Ben Duckett, stand-in captain Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence left England 70 for three.

A 49-run stand between Root and Harry Brook left England needing 86 more before the latter was caught and bowled on 32 by Prabath Jayasuriya.

Smith then awoke the chase from its slumber hitting 22 from 15 balls after getting himself in to bring the runs needed down from 66 to 44.

Root, who took 95 balls to hit his first boundary, then took over after Smith’s dismissal to finish the job, hitting the winning runs as he advanced down the pitch to hit Jayasuriya for four.

Ben Duckett 2/10

Another quiet Test, with 29 runs overall. Averaging 26.20 since his century against India at Rajkot in February.

Dan Lawrence 5/10

Twin scores in the 30s wasn’t what the stand-in opener would have dreamed about but he did contribute valuable runs. Will hope to better in the next Test at Lord’s this week.

Ollie Pope 3/10

A pair of sixes with the bat allied to underwhelming captaincy in Sri Lanka’s second innings. Anyone compared to Stokes is underwhelming but still not a great Test for the stand-in.

Joe Root 8/10

Showed his enduring class to negotiate the chase on a tricky fourth-day pitch after scoring 42 in the first innings.

Harry Brook 6/10

First-innings half-century and dug in for vital runs during England’s final-day chase. Will feel he missed out on more runs.

Jamie Smith 10/10

Batted brilliantly to score a maiden Test century that set the game up for his team. Then added much-needed impetus to the chase on the final day. A couple of errors with the gloves but kept well otherwise.

Chris Woakes 7/10

England’s new leader of the attack took six wickets overall and was their most penetrating threat. Did okay with the bat after being promoted up the order to No 7.

Gus Atkinson 5/10

Worst Test since making his debut at the start of the summer but still picked up four wickets, including key scalp of Kamindu Mendis on the final day.

Matthew Potts 4/10

Dragged things back in Sri Lanka’s second innings with three for 47 after a torrid first innings when he was taken out of the firing line by stand-in captain Ollie Pope.

Mark Wood 6/10

Only took two wickets in the match before pulling up with a thigh injury but again bowled with electrifying pace that built pressure others capitalised on.

Shoaib Bashir 4/10

Took three for 55 in the first innings to help break Sri Lanka’s resistance. But went missing in the second when his team needed him the most.