This Day That Year: Sri Lanka register a historic Test series win in England
The Sri Lanka Cricket Team registered a thrilling win on the fifth and final day of the 2nd Test match played at Headingly, Leeds
on 24th June 2014.
England began the fifth day struggling at 57 for 5 with Joe
Root and Moeen Ali arriving at the crease. It was a decent start for the hosts
as both batsmen looked steady playing with solid defense taking them to 83 for
5 before the rain arrived and the umpire called lunch.
After the lunch break, Moeen Ali and Joe Root continued their
solid defense. Nuwan Pradeep produced the breakthrough for Sri Lanka getting
the wicket of Joe Root for 31. Root and Ali added 67 runs for the 6th
wicket. Matt Prior also showed resolute defense and made life tough. On the
other hand, Moeen played with positive intent and completed his fifty off 129
balls. Damika Prasad dismissed Prior for 10 off 37 balls. Both batsmen added 36
runs for the 7th wicket. At the end of the 2nd session,
England scored 173 for 7.
In the third session, Sri Lanka took the 2nd new
ball immediately. Chris Jordan remained solid with his defensive technique and
kept England’s hopes alive of drawing
the match. Herath produced the magic getting the wicket of Jordan for 21 off 62
balls. Jordan and Ali added 52 runs for the 8th wicket. Moeen Ali
and Stuart Broad kept on frustrating the Sri Lankan bowling attack. With time
ticking, Herath struck again to dismiss Broad who faced 24 balls.
Moeen Ali looked in decent touch and reached his century off
259 balls. Ali took most of the strike while James Anderson was resolute in his
defense. The match went down to the penultimate bowl as Eranga got the wicket
of Anderson to help Sri Lanka register a thrilling 100 run win.
It was an amazing game of cricket right from word go.
England captain Alistair Cook won the toss and decided to field first. It was a
superb bowling effort by the hosts as they bowled out Sri Lanka for 257. England
ended the first day on 36 for 0.
After the early fall of Cook’s wicket, Gary Balance and
Robson played with positive intent adding 142 runs for the 2nd
wicket. The Sri Lankan bowlers made a strong comeback as England ended 2nd
day on 320 for 6.
The Sri Lankan pacers did a brilliant job on the 3rd
day to bowl out England for 365. A much better batting display led Sri Lanka to
214 for 4.
Mathews 160, Mahela Jayawardene 79, Herath 48, Sangakkara
55, Karurante 45 helped Sri Lanka post a competitive total of 457 to give
England a target of 350 runs to win. It was an amazing bowling display by Sri
Lankan pacers reduced the hosts to 50 for 5 at the end of day 4.
The first Test match played at Lords from 12th
June ended in a thrilling draw that went down to the last ball.
For his all-round performance, Mathews was named as the man
of the match.
Sri Lanka 257 in 69.5 overs ( Sangakkara 79, Chandimal 45,
Liam Plunkett 5/69) and 457 in 132.5 overs ( Mathews 160, Jayawardene 79,
Sangakkara 55, Liam Plunkett 4/112, James Anderson 3/91) beat England 365 in 110.5
overs ( Sam Robson 127, Ian Bell 64, Shaminda Eranga 4/93, Mathews 4/44) and
249 in 116.5 overs ( Moeen Ali 108*, Root 31, Dhammika Prasad 5/50, Rangana Herath
3/59) by 100 runs.
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| This Day That Year Sri Lanka register a historic Test series win on England soil |
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