ENG Vs SL: England beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in first test, lead in two-match series

ENG Vs SL: England defeated Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in the first Test match. With this victory, the possibility of England reaching the final of the Test Championship also remains intact.

ENG Vs SL: England defeated hosts Sri Lanka by seven wickets on Monday, the fifth and last day of the first Test match played at the Gaul International Stadium. England had to score 74 runs to win. England achieved this target by losing three wickets. England captain Joe Root was named the man of the match for scoring a double century in the first innings.

Chasing an easy target, England lost their three wickets on the fourth day itself. On the fifth day, the visiting team started with 38 runs at the loss of three wickets and achieved the target while not losing any more wickets.

Johnny Bairstow remained unbeaten after scoring 35 runs. With him, Dan Lawrence scored 21 runs to win the team. Bairstow faced 65 balls and hit two fours. Lawrence played 52 balls in his unbeaten innings. He did not hit a single boundary.

Sri Lanka was piled on for 135 runs in their first innings. England then took the lead of 286 runs with the help of captain Joe Root’s 228 and Lawrence’s 73 runs, scoring 421 runs in the first innings.

Sri Lanka did well in the second innings but due to the low score of the first innings, they could not set a big goal in front of England due to the lead. Sri Lanka scored 359 runs in their second innings. With this victory, England has kept alive their hopes of reaching the final of the ICC Test Championship. England is currently ranked fourth in the ICC Test Championship.