Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsSkip to navigation

England beat Sri Lanka in second Test to sweep series – as it happened

This article is more than 3 years old

England chased down 164 with six wickets to spare as they completed a 2-0 series win on a dramatic day in Galle

 Updated 
(earlier) and (now)
Mon 25 Jan 2021 10.12 ESTFirst published on Sun 24 Jan 2021 23.15 EST
Key events
Jos Buttler and Dom Sibley celebrate the win.
Jos Buttler and Dom Sibley celebrate the win. Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket
Jos Buttler and Dom Sibley celebrate the win. Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket

Live feed

Key events

Actually, that was the second-last word, as an email has landed from Rob Smyth which is well worth passing on. “The last time England won five away Tests in a row,” he reports, “was between 1911 and 1914.” So it hasn’t happened since before the war – the first world war. Impressive stuff, even if South Africa and Sri Lanka, for different reasons, were not at their best when Root’s England turned up. It all whets the appetite nicely for the series in India. Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will be back, so will Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, and so will we – see you on 5 February.

Root has had the series from heaven – hell, he even took two for none today. But a few other England players have distinguished themselves too. Jonny Bairstow is back – making a difference, reminding us how well he plays spin – even if he still appears to be taking a plane home tonight, in the interests of rotation. Jos Buttler has kept better than before in Asia and carried on batting as well as he did last summer. He too will be a loss, when he heads home after the first Test in India, although he has a silky-smooth understudy in Ben Foakes.

Jimmy Anderson leaves Sri Lanka, probably for the last time, with yet another memento to lob into the wicker basket he has at home for all the balls with which he has taken a five-for. And Stuart Broad has finally managed a three-for in Sri Lanka. Between them, they took nine for 80 in the series, without even appearing together.

Mark Wood, who played in both Tests, put in a far greater shift than his figures (three for 154) show. The spin twins, Dom Bess and Jack Leach, scraped off the rust and alternated between finding it hard and finding it all too easy. Bess was somewhat flattered by his 12 wickets at 21, Leach rather insulted by his 10 at 35.

Dom Sibley battled back from three flops to make an ugly fifty. And Dan Lawrence followed a sparkling debut with our old friend, the difficult second album – which Zak Crawley knows all about, after making successive Test scores of 267, 9, 8, 5 and 13. The 13 was actually pretty good, setting the tone for a positive chase.

Thanks for your company, which has been excellent as always, and we’ll see you soon – very soon, as the first Test in Chennai is on Friday week. The last word goes to Matt Cast. “Just got up,” he says. “Have I missed anything?”

Share
Updated at 

More honesty from Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, who says simply: “We were outplayed today.” He feels they made the same mistakes as on the first day of the serie. “We need to learn how to bat like Root.”

Spare a thought for Lasith Embuldeniya, who produced one of the all-time great displays and still ended up on the losing side. He took seven for 137 in the first innings to give Sri Lanka the lead. Then he came in at 78 for eight and belted 40 to give them a decent chance of a win. And finally he removed three of England’s top five for the second time in the match, and kept on bowling even when you could see how tired he was. He finished with match figures of 62-9-210-10. If Root wins the Player of the Match award again, he should really hand it to Embuldeniya.

Share
Updated at 

That bucket of whitewash, into which Jonny Bairstow hit the ball earlier, now stands as an emblem of England’s performance in the series. They’ve followed their 3-0 in Sri Lanka two years ago with a 2-0 here. Joe Root’s record as a Test captain in Asia is spectacular: played five, won five. Now that’s what you call a clean sweep.

Share
Updated at 

Dom Sibley is giving an interview. Asked how good it feels, he says, “Relief, to be honest. Had a bit of a stinker in the series so far. After working so hard on spin before we came out here, I was beginning to doubt myself a little bit. Obviously had a bit of luck today with reviews.” Watching Root play so well, he says, “makes you feel inadequate”. Full marks for honesty, and modesty.

The England players exchange the traditional fist-bumps with the Sri Lankans and then, in a nice gesture, go over to the fort to thank their supporters. I was wrong to say that Randy Caddick was a one-man Barmy Army: they’re out in force today, at least five of them.

“Sibley opposite of masterclass,” says Brian Withington, picking up on the 35th over. “Grafterclass?” Absolutely, though in future he may not want to rely quite so heavily on umpire’s call.

Share
Updated at 

It’s been a personal triumph for Joe Root. The man who couldn’t make a hundred last year starts this one with a series average of a hundred – 426 for four times out. If he can just sort out his running between the wickets, he’ll be very useful.

England win! By six wickets

England 164-4 (Sibley 56, Buttler 46) A six from Buttler would have been nice, but the winning run just had to be a nudge to leg by Sibley. These two have wrapped it up with an impressive partnership of 75. And England have their fifth successive win on the road (three in South Africa, two here) – the first time they’ve done that for more than a century.

43rd over: England 161-4 (Sibley 54, Buttler 45) Buttler sweeps Embuldeniya so well that Root, on the balcony, mimics the shot – a superstar turning into a tribute act.

“Nerve-endings aside,” says Guy Hornsby, “this has been another outstanding Test, headed by the OBO of course.” Thanks! “Fascinating chat on TMS too about England finding so many singles. Cook has been such a refreshing mate-free presence, talking honestly about the difficulties of captaincy.” A subject on which he speaks with some authority.

42nd over: England 152-4 (Sibley 50, Buttler 40) Sibley gets his single, and his fifty, with his umpteenth nudge into the on side. Well done that temperament.

41st over: England 151-4 (Sibley 49, Buttler 40) Embuldeniya is still on, but there’s no sign of a Red Bull and Buttler helps himself to a cut for two. His 40 has come off only 42 balls, while Sibley’s 49 has taken 135. If Sibley could just take a single, they can both collect a fifty.

Share
Updated at 

40th over: England 149-4 (Sibley 49, Buttler 38) Buttler cover-drives Mendis for another crunching four and holds the pose, as well he may.

Here’s Brian Withington, taking a break between Paul Simon pastiches. “There was some OBO discussion earlier in this Test,” he says, “about wicket sharing and various football formations. It’s just occurred that England’s three spinners have served up a tribute to Kipling quoting Mike Bassett’s immortal England line up – four, four, f’ing two!”

39th over: England 143-4 (Sibley 48, Buttler 33) Embuldeniya has the energy to muster five dots against Sibley, but can’t stop him pushing into the covers for a single. And that’s drinks again, with England apparently cruising now. Can someone please give Embuldeniya a can of Red Bull?

Dom Sibley does some stretching. Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket
Share
Updated at 

38th over: England 142-4 (Sibley 47, Buttler 33) Buttler’s enjoying this now. He cover-drives Mendis, handsomely – two parts MCC manual, one part silken-wristed genius. The fifty partnership is up, the target is down to 22, and there should be time to reach it tonight.

Share
Updated at 

37th over: England 132-4 (Sibley 45, Buttler 25) Poor old Embuldeniya is back again. Buttler, sensing tiredness, jumps on a not-that-bad ball and cuts it for four. His 25 has come off only 30 balls.

“Hi Tim from a beautifully sunny and cold Rochester!” says William Vignoles. “Thanks for your sterling work as ever.” It’s a pleasure, as ever. “While Crawley and (until this innings) Sibley haven’t had a great series, it’s encouraging seeing how they’re obviously working hard to correct what’s been getting them out. It still might not be enough but I’d rather that than seeing them getting out the same way again and again, as with someone like Travis Head slashing to gully or Bairstow getting bowled by pacers. Still dreading a mullering in India though!”

36th over: England 126-4 (Sibley 44, Buttler 20) And Buttler is dropped! He played that slightly uppish off-drive of his, and the bowler, Mendis, did everything right with his dive, only to spill the ball once he’d got there. That may be the last chance gone for the Sri Lankans. Buttler rubs it in with a pull for two, whittling the target down to 38.

35th over: England 124-4 (Sibley 44, Buttler 18) There are two games being played out there: a comfortable one, when Buttler is facing, easing into the gaps for one or two, and a tricky one when it’s Sibley’s turn. He’s giving the opposite of a masterclass, but again he makes it through the over, and the target is down to 40.

Share
Updated at 

34th over: England 121-4 (Sibley 44, Buttler 15) And England need only 43. Even they can’t blow this one, can they?

Review! Sibley escapes again

For the third time, Sibley escapes on umpire’s call! Different bowler – Mendis, replacing Embuldeniya – but the same thing keeps happening. He goes back, he plays too square, he misses, the cry goes up, the ump isn’t quite sure, and Sibley somehow survives. Groundhog Dom.

Share
Updated at 

33rd over: England 119-4 (Sibley 43, Buttler 14) Perera bamboozles Sibley with his arm ball. That’s a good over, but Sibley survives. What he lacks in technique, he makes up for in temperament, and he’s surely inked himself into the XI for Chennai.

Meanwhile we have more correspondence from Turkey. “From 517 kilometres away, it’s also raining hard in Istanbul, Mr Wilson,” says Rob Lewis. “What a shame the game can’t be decided in a sledging contest. This cricket lark is bad for my nerves, even when I’m not working ‘cos it’s university holiday time in Turkey.”

32nd over: England 118-4 (Sibley 42, Buttler 14) Embuldeniya’s rest lasts precisely three minutes as Chandimal brings him on from the other end. But he’s a bit weary, and there for the milking. Five singles off the over, 46 needed to win, and England (whisper it) are back in the driving seat.

Share
Updated at 

31st over: England 113-4 (Sibley 39, Buttler 12) Embuldeniya finally gets a breather. With figures of 15-3-50-3 in the innings, and ten for 187 in the match, he has some laurels to rest on. Buttler eases into double figures with a reverse sweep off Perera, before pushing into the covers for two more. England need 51.

Share
Updated at 

30th over: England 109-4 (Sibley 39, Buttler 8) More singles off Mendis, who’s been too leaky (7-0-34-1). Chandimal needs to change the bowling and the mood.

“Afternoon Tim from a very rainy Side, Turkey,” says Ian Wilson. “I suppose the Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman [Dickwella] backs up his chirping with great glove work and batting, but what the England batsmen lack in technique against the spinners, they do have some verbals to give back to him, now that Buttler is at the crease. He is England’s best sledger as well as probably the best bet to get the winning runs. The next hour can be critical as well as there being some interesting dialogue between the two best wicketkeeper-batsmen currently playing Test cricket.” Are you, by any chance, sledging Rishabh Pant?

29th over: England 105-4 (Sibley 37, Buttler 6) Embuldeniya bowls his 15th over on the trot: there’s no rest for the excellent. He beats Sibley outside off, then has an LBW appeal as Sibley offers no stroke, but he’s coming over the wicket and the ball pitched outside leg.

28th over: England 104-4 (Sibley 36, Buttler 6) The big wicket now is Buttler, the expert chaser who loves it when the scoreboard tells him exactly what is needed. He nurdles Mendis for a single, twice, and so does Sibley, so the target is down to 60.

Drinks: too close to call

27th over: England 100-4 (Sibley 34, Buttler 4) Sibley edges a cut for four – by nutmegging Dickwella. That should keep him quiet for at least five seconds. And they go to drinks, with the final act beautifully set up and the past hour belonging to Sri Lanka. England need 64, Sri Lanka need six wickets, and Embuldeniya probably fancies the lot of them.

Meanwhile David Reynolds is back in his role as counsel for the prosecution. “I take your point about Bairstow being a good player of spin, but India’s crucial dangermen are now quickies. And, particularly if he’s at number 3, Bairstow’s far more likely to come in to face Bumrah and Sharma than Ashwin – and those are exactly the sort of the bowlers that Bairstow has a long track record of being bowled by while playing wildly extravagant drives.” Fair point. Shall we agree to differ?

Share
Updated at 

26th over: England 94-4 (Sibley 28, Buttler 4) Jos Buttler cover-drives Mendis for four, wristily. He could get the job done fast here, if Sibley can just give him the strike. The camera finds Root on the England balcony, picking his nails: the only surprise is that he’s not biting them.

Wicket!! Lawrence c Dickwella b Embuldeniya 2 (England 89-4)

Yes, caught behind. Dan Lawrence comes down to earth. And Embuldeniya has ten wickets in the match! He’s been phenomenal, with the ball, then the bat, then the ball again, and thanks to him we could have a cliffhanger.

24th over: England 88-3 (Sibley 26, Lawrence 2) Off-spin should suit Sibley down to the ground, as the ball is already going the way he loves to nudge it. He’s been out-scored two-to-one today by his four partners, but he’s slowly warming to the task and he picks up two more singles off Mendis. England need 76.

Share
Updated at 

23rd over: England 85-3 (Sibley 24, Lawrence 1) Lawrence, who made the rookie error of taking a single off the last ball of the previous over, just about gets through a maiden from Embuldeniya.

Share
Updated at 

22nd over: England 85-3 (Sibley 24, Lawrence 1) Root had just played a peach of a shot, a dancing off-drive, but he has to go, with just the 426 runs to his name in this series.

And here’s Em Jackson. “If I may hop on this cricket ground band-wagon at 09:55, I offer you Durham’s Chennai-le-Street.” Ha. It’s not a raging turner in my experience, but give it a few more years of global heating...

Share
Updated at 

Wicket! Root b Mendis 11 (England 84-3)

The big one! After missing those two sweeps, Root gloves this one and deflects it onto leg stump. That’s a triumph for the debutant Mendis. England need another 80, and wherever they go in the world, they always carry a collapse in their back pocket.

Ramesh Mendis takes the wicket of Joe Root. Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket
Share
Updated at 

20th over: England 76-2 (Sibley 22, Root 5) Root misses a sweep! And another one. He’s human after all.

“I must quibble with your good self and Daniel Shepherd.” Quibble away, David Reynolds. “I think the madness more lies in pretending that Bairstow is any longer one of the best 11 or even 22 English Test match cricketers, or believing that scores of 47, 35 not out, 28, and 29 should change the selectors previous conclusion that he was not. Before those four innings, he had a very long record of reckless low scores, including an average of 18.4 in 20 Test match innings before Galle. Even though I do not agree with it, I can imagine a case for Bairstow, but the idea I keep encountering that he has suddenly become undroppable without even getting to 50 seems ridiculous to yours truly.” Two points. One, poor old Bairstow is always droppable. Two, you’re picking a top five to face India on a turning pitch, who do you want? I suspect we can all agree that it’s Root first, Stokes second. For me, right now, Bairstow is third in that queue. And let’s take the numbers with a pinch of salt: today’s 29, like the 47 and 35, was worth double.

Share
Updated at 

19th over: England 72-2 (Sibley 20, Root 4) Sibley uses his feet to clip Embuldeniya for two, and enjoys it so much, he tries it again next ball, adding a single. Twenty from an England opener! Riches.

18th over: England 66-2 (Sibley 16, Root 2) All Sibley has to do is give Root the strike, but he can’t find a way. That’s the first maiden from Perera in this innings. One more wicket and England will have the jitters.

Joe Root and Sibley go for a run. Photograph: Sri Lanka Cricket
Share
Updated at 

17th over: England 66-2 (Sibley 16, Root 2) Root is making it look easy again. Sibley is not, but he manages a shovel into the gap at midwicket. The target is in double figures now – 98 to go.

“If Taunton is Ciderabad,” wonders Geoffey Smith, “is Harrogate Bittergong?” Love it.

Share
Updated at 

16th over: England 64-2 (Sibley 15, Root 1) Root gets off the mark with a tuck into the on side. His reward is to be serenaded by Randy Caddick, the one-man Barmy Army up on the ramparts, with a chorus of Joe Root, to the tune of Hey Jude.

Here’s Daniel Shepherd. “A light Google reveals there are single air fares from Sri Lanka to India for not much more than $200. Considering a whip round for Jonny Bairstow’s seat. Anyone else keen to chip in? I’m assuming we can all agree it would be utter madness to allow him to go back to Blighty.” It would. Pull him out of the one-day series at the end! I wrote about this in yesterday’s Observer.

15th over: England 62-2 (Sibley 14, Root 0) That was a big wicket, and here comes an even bigger one: Joe Root. He starts by going back, as he has done a thousand times in this series. It’s becoming clear that he spent the November lockdown watching videos of Keith Fletcher.

Wicket! Bairstow LBW b Embuldeniya 29 (England 62-2)

Umpire’s call! It was an arm ball, pushed through at some pace, and it was clipping leg stump. A ninth wicket in the match for Lasith of the Rovers.

Share
Updated at 

Wicket? Bairstow given LBW

Pinned on the back foot, and the review is more in desperation than expectation.

14th over: England 62-1 (Sibley 14, Bairstow 29) Bairstow plays yet another reverse-sweep for four, off Perera, and Sibley chips in with a miss that goes for four leg byes. The target is down to 102.

Share
Updated at 

13th over: England 53-1 (Sibley 14, Bairstow 24) Bairstow had come out bristling, tucking the first ball from Embuldeniya for two and reverse-sweeping the second for four before that brush with mortality. He has 24 off only 20 balls, and England need another 111.

Share
Updated at 

Not out!

“No bat or glove involved,” says the third umpire. “Upper hand!” Well, yes, Bairstow does have the upper hand here. But I suspect the ump got that wrong, and there was a flick of the wristband section of the glove.

Review! And it's not Sibley

Bairstow misses a reverse sweep, and the Sri Lankans, unlike the umpire, detect a hint of glove.

And here’s Brian Withington. “As ever, Paul Simon has penned something wistful (if a little premature) for the occasion...

So long, Sri-lank-a
I can’t believe your series gone so soon
I barely learned the tune
So soon, so soon

I’ll remember Sri-Lank-a
All of the nights we’d OBO ‘til dawn
I never stared so long
So long, so long

Cricket tours may come, and cricket tours may go
And never change your point of view
When the runs dry
I’ll stop awhile and think of you

So long, Embuldeniya
All of the nights you’d spin the ball ‘til dawn
I never watched so long
So long, so long
So long, so long
So long, so long
So long
(So long already, Rootie!)
So long

Maybe it needs a bit more work.” Too modest! I hope Paul Simon realises what a big part he’s now playing in international cricket.

Share
Updated at 

A tweet from John Etheridge of The Sun. “If Sri Lanka can run out Root,” he reckons, “they have a decent chance.”

“The real competition that is hotting up,” says Robin Hazlehurst, “is for Man of the Match. Root’s two wickets greatly enhanced the claim made by his batting and must leave him in pole position, but Embuldeniya’s batting cameo extended his claim from his bowling. How many second-innings wickets will he need to beat Root for the bubbly? Or will it simply be whichever of them ends up on the winning side?” Another five-for would be hard to argue with, but you’re probably right, it’ll be a case of to the victor, the spoils.

An email from Danny Eccleston. “Standing on the shoulders of giants,” he says, “or at least, Brian Withington (07.39): if Taunton is Ciderabad, then wouldn’t Chelmsford be Lagerabad?” It would!

Tea: England on top, just about

12th over: England 46-1 (Sibley 14, Bairstow 17) Aside from that one great delivery to Crawley, the only batsman who’s been in any trouble here is Sibley, whose quirky technique soon becomes a liability on a turning pitch. He would have been out to each of those LBW appeals if the on-field umpire had liked the look of them. But he survives and gets to enjoy a cup of tea with England sitting pretty-ish. The target is down to 118, Joe Root is still to come, and the top order has finally managed to give him a breather.

Another review!

Sibley? Check. LBW? Check? Not given? Check. Brushing leg? Check. Umpire’s call? Check. But this time the bowler is Perera.

Share
Updated at 

11th over: England 45-1 (Sibley 14, Bairstow 16) Before the review, there had been a couple more singles. England have been so positive, ticking along at four an over, even off the all-conquering Embuldeniya.

Most viewed

Most viewed