England take series lead as Herath takes final bow

• Sri Lanka succumb to 211 run defeat
• Visitors notch up maiden win in Galle and first away victory in 14 attempts

By Madushka Balasuriya

England played the role of spoilers on Rangana Herath’s farewell, recording their first away Test victory in 14 attempts and their first in Galle as they trounced Sri Lanka by 211 runs in the first Test to go 1-0 up in the three Test series.

Debutant Ben Foakes was named Man of the Match for his crucial first innings century, which helped his side recover from an early collapse, as well as a bludgeoning 34-ball 37 in the second innings that helped England take the game away from the hosts. 

He was also instrumental in the field, with his quick glove work resulting in a vital first innings stumping of Dinesh Chandimal, while it was his positioning and sharp hands that allowed him to swiftly effect the run out that would seal a deserved win for the visitors.

Moeen Ali, meanwhile, was the pick of the bowlers, ending up with match figures of 8 for 137, while the English spinners as a whole accounted for 16 of the 20 Sri Lankan wickets to fall in the match. That in itself is not too much of a surprise on as notorious a spin-friendly track as Galle. However, the Sri Lankan batsmen will be deeply disappointed at the nature of some of their dismissals, not to mention their overall inability to apply themselves over sustained periods – a lesson they would do well to take from their opponents.

Having started the day with only a mathematical chance of victory, and no realistic expectation of batting out the remaining 180 overs left in the game, Sri Lanka’s most likely strategy would have been to take as few risks as possible, for as long as possible, with one eye firmly on the rain gods. 

For the first hour, this game plan seemed to work, as the opening pair of Kaushal Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne notched up a 50-run opening stand. But after Silva lost his wicket, trapped in front of the stumps by Jack Leach following a poorly-executed sweep, the wheels began to come off. 

Karunaratne was the first to fall foul of the home side’s collective brain fade, advancing down to track only to offer an easy return catch to Ali. 

Dhananjaya De Silva was next, having consolidated the innings with Kusal Mendis – the pair putting on 39. He proceeded to waft at a wide one from Ben Stokes in the final over before lunch. While he survived the caught behind appeal on referral, he proceeded to edge the very next delivery to slip. 

Angelo Mathews joined Mendis after the break, and once more, Sri Lanka looked like consolidating as the pair shared 46 runs between them. Mendis, having earlier lofted Leach over the covers, on a subsequent attempt only managed to find a man especially positioned for just such a stroke.

Combined with such ill-advised shot-making, Sri Lanka also had to contend with a Galle surface, one that, while it had not deteriorated as much as expected heading into a fourth day, was still capable of producing the odd unplayable delivery.  Dinesh Chandimal was the first to fall prey to one of these. The Sri Lankan skipper had been nursing a grade 1 groin strain since midway through the opening day, and it was clear his movement was restricted, so when he stayed back to a sharp turning off-break from Leach – one he would have been better served coming forward to – he could only watch as the ball rattled into his stumps.

Niroshan Dickwella, too, looking to regain focus after the tea break, was left with the difficult task of navigating a sharply turning off-break from Ali first up. The left-hander only managing to guide it to slip, where Stokes took a sharp catch low to his left. 

With the dismissal of Dickwella, the only recognised batsman at the crease was Mathews, and it was now a question of when, not if, England would wrap up the innings. When Mathews chipped one to Buttler at mid-on off Ali, it was all but over, shortly after wickets by Ali and Adil Rashid, and the quick hands of Foakes, mercifully ended proceedings.  In the end, the final memory of this Test will be Herath sprawled full stretch, only to be run out millimetres short of the crease. While the record-breaking lefty will have better memories to look back on in the days and weeks ahead, for Sri Lanka, with a week to go before the second Test in Pallekele, they have a lot more left to ponder.