England thrash SL in first Test

GALLE (SRI LANKA): England claimed their first away Test victory in 13 matches on Friday with a commanding win against Sri Lanka in Galle.

Last man out was silver fox Rangana Herath, cricket’s most successful left-arm spinner in history, in his last match before retirement.

The hosts, chasing a notional 462 victory, were all out for 250 on day four, with Moeen Ali taking four wickets and Jack Leach three.

England had secured a first innings lead of 139 and on Thursday an unbeaten 146 by Keaton Jennings, his first century since a ton on his 2016 debut, allowed Root to declare at 322 for six.

Fifteen without loss overnight, openers Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne withstood the pressure from England’s formidable bowling attack for the first hour.

But both fell after attacking shots, with Kaushal leg before trying to sweep Leach for 30 and Karunaratne caught and bowled by Ali for 26 and skipped down the pitch for an attempted heave.

Dhananjaya de Silva, after a confident start, was caught at first slip by skipper Joe Root off Ben Stokes in the last over of the morning session for 21.