PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Off-spinner Moeen Ali struck twice in three deliveries as England completed a 57-run victory in the second test against Sri Lanka on the final day on Sunday to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who had taken four wickets on Saturday, picked up the final Sri Lanka scalp to complete a maiden five-wicket haul in his third test with the hosts all out for 243.
Sri Lanka resumed on 226 for seven, needing 75 for victory, and kept the England spinners at bay for 15 minutes before Moeen dismissed Niroshan Dickwella, who was caught at slip by Ben Stokes for 35.
The off-spinner then sent back Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain Suranga Lakmal for a duck two deliveries later. Moeen finished with 4-72 while Leach had figures of 5-83.
Malinda Pushpakumara spooned a catch straight back to Leach as England completed their first away series win in tests since beating South Africa at the beginning of 2016.
It was also England’s first series win in Asia since the 2012 triumph in India and their first in Sri Lanka since 2001.
“It was a brilliant test match. We were very good for the whole game. At times we were under pressure and we responded really well to that,” England captain Joe Root said at the post-match presentation. “(I) couldn’t be more proud of the guys.”
Root was named player of the match for his brilliant 124 in the second innings that helped his team post a daunting target to chase.
Sri Lanka batted well in both innings but Sam Curran’s stylish 64 in the first innings and Root’s astounding knock under pressure in the second made the difference for England.
“Sri Lanka played brilliantly in both innings. At times we lost clusters of wickets but we stayed very calm and managed to find ways to get back in the game and get the control back in our favour,” Root added.
“We said we are going to come out here and play bold cricket, we were quite courageous at times and everyone’s really bought into that. We are seeing the rewards now.
“We have to keep looking to improve. We have seen this team grow in the last six-eight months. We are not the finished article, we want to get to number one at some point.
“We have to be consistent to do that, in all parts of the world and on different surfaces.”
With the Pallekele pitch assisting the slow bowlers, spinners completely dominated the match, taking 38 wickets.
Lakmal was the only seamer to pick up a wicket while the other was a run out.
It was also the first time since 1973 in Karachi that no seamer took a wicket in a test for England.
The third and final test of the series will start on Friday in Colombo.
England 1st innings
Rory Burns c Dhananjaya de Silva b Akila Dananjaya 43
Keaton Jennings c Niroshan Dickwella b Suranga Lakmal 1
Ben Stokes lbw Dilruwan Perera 19
Joe Root b Malinda Pushpakumara 14
Jos Buttler c Dimuth Karunaratne b Malinda Pushpakumara 63
Moeen Ali lbw Malinda Pushpakumara 10
Ben Foakes c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilruwan Perera 19
Sam Curran c Dimuth Karunaratne b Dilruwan Perera 64
Adil Rashid lbw Dilruwan Perera 31
Jack Leach b Akila Dananjaya 7
James Anderson Not Out 7
Extras 4b 3lb 0nb 5pen 0w 12
Total (75.4 overs) 290 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-7 Jennings, 2-44 Stokes, 3-65 Root, 4-89 Burns, 5-134 Ali, 6-165 Foakes, 7-171 Buttler, 8-216 Rashid, 9-225 Leach, 10-285 Curran
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Suranga Lakmal 12 1 44 1 3.67
Dilruwan Perera 24.4 5 61 4 2.47
Malinda Pushpakumara 23 4 89 3 3.87
Dhananjaya de Silva 2 0 4 0 2.00
Akila Dananjaya 14 1 80 2 5.71
Sri Lanka 1st innings
Dimuth Karunaratne Run Out Ben Stokes 63
Kaushal Silva b Jack Leach 6
Malinda Pushpakumara c Rory Burns b Moeen Ali 4
Dhananjaya de Silva c Ben Foakes b Adil Rashid 59
Kusal Mendis c Ben Stokes b Jack Leach 1
Angelo Mathews c Ben Foakes b Adil Rashid 20
Roshen Silva c Moeen Ali b Adil Rashid 85
Niroshan Dickwella lbw Joe Root 25
Dilruwan Perera lbw Jack Leach 15
Akila Dananjaya lbw Moeen Ali 31
Suranga Lakmal Not Out 15
Extras 6b 6lb 0nb 0pen 0w 12
Total (103.0 overs) 336 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-22 Silva, 2-31 Pushpakumara, 3-127 Karunaratne, 4-136 Mendis, 5-146 de Silva, 6-165 Mathews, 7-211 Dickwella, 8-252 Perera, 9-308 Perera, 10-336 Silva
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
James Anderson 14 2 40 0 2.86
Sam Curran 4 0 19 0 4.75
Jack Leach 29 5 70 3 2.41
Moeen Ali 25 1 85 2 3.40
Adil Rashid 22 2 75 3 3.41
Joe Root 8 0 26 1 3.25
Ben Stokes 1 0 9 0 9.00
England 2nd innings
Jack Leach lbw Dilruwan Perera 1
Rory Burns lbw Malinda Pushpakumara 59
Keaton Jennings c Dhananjaya de Silva b Akila Dananjaya 26
Joe Root lbw Akila Dananjaya 124
Ben Stokes lbw Dilruwan Perera 0
Jos Buttler b Akila Dananjaya 34
Moeen Ali lbw Akila Dananjaya 10
Ben Foakes Not Out 65
Sam Curran b Akila Dananjaya 0
Adil Rashid lbw Akila Dananjaya 2
James Anderson b Dilruwan Perera 12
Extras 4b 9lb 0nb 0pen 0w 13
Total (80.4 overs) 346 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Leach, 2-77 Jennings, 3-108 Burns, 4-109 Stokes, 5-183 Buttler, 6-219 Ali, 7-301 Root, 8-301 Curran, 9-305 Rashid, 10-346 Anderson
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
Dilruwan Perera 20.4 2 96 3 4.65
Malinda Pushpakumara 27 1 101 1 3.74
Akila Dananjaya 25 0 115 6 4.60
Dhananjaya de Silva 4 0 7 0 1.75
Suranga Lakmal 4 0 14 0 3.50
Sri Lanka 2nd innings
Dimuth Karunaratne c Ben Foakes b Adil Rashid 57
Kaushal Silva st Ben Foakes b Jack Leach 4
Dhananjaya de Silva c Keaton Jennings b Jack Leach 1
Kusal Mendis lbw Jack Leach 1
Angelo Mathews lbw Moeen Ali 88
Roshen Silva c Joe Root b Moeen Ali 37
Niroshan Dickwella c Ben Stokes b Moeen Ali 35
Dilruwan Perera lbw Jack Leach 2
Akila Dananjaya Not Out 8
Suranga Lakmal b Moeen Ali 0
Malinda Pushpakumara c&b Jack Leach 1
Extras 5b 4lb 0nb 0pen 0w 9
Total (74.0 overs) 243 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-14 Silva, 2-16 de Silva, 3-26 Mendis, 4-103 Karunaratne, 5-176 Silva, 6-221 Mathews, 7-226 Perera, 8-240 Dickwella, 9-240 Lakmal, 10-243 Pushpakumara
Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex
James Anderson 5 2 12 0 2.40
Jack Leach 28 2 83 5 2.96
Moeen Ali 19 2 72 4 3.79
Adil Rashid 17 1 52 1 3.06
Joe Root 5 0 15 0 3.00
