Lahiru Thirimanne leads Sri Lanka fightback after Joe Root’s sublime double century puts England in control
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Okay, so maybe it was not going to be as easy as first thought. A day that started with England 185 ahead, six first-innings wickets remaining and the prospect of a win with time to spare ended with overdue Sri Lankan defiance.
A deficit now at 130 is only getting smaller. A home line-up embarrassed for 135 on Thursday will start Sunday on 152 for two with opening batsman Lahiru Thirimanne still going strong on 75. There will be hopes of wiping away the deficit and moving towards a lead that will add to the heat under English collars. For now, the tourists still have plenty in their favour, and it’s not like they can use any extra free time to take in the sights of the Galle Fort, such are the restrictions of this tour. Still, there was more than enough to celebrate.
Addressing the media with his first century in 13 months, Joe Root told of his knack of going bigger once into three figures. Sticking to his word, the England captain brought up a fourth double century, setting a second-top personal score of 228, the last man out in an English high of 421 in Sri Lanka. It was less a warning to heed, more a promise kept.
Day three’s work was the kind that makes this caper of watching and reporting a tad redundant. Because what was said of Friday’s 168 runs can only be repeated when regaling the 60 on Saturday. Of a man in control, dexterous with and against the turn, sweeping with relish, quietly devastating all the way through. His 291st ball faced was swept hard to take him to 200. He celebrated with another off his 292nd.
Even his mistake - just the one - came through an extension of selflessness. Ignoring the benefit of red ink to his average, he was caught at deep midwicket searching for an extra exclamation point to the innings.
He became the first Englishman to make two scores above 200 while skipper. Of the country’s top seven run-scorers, he has the best average (49). Now past 8,000 runs, he could break into the top four by the time summer rolls around.
Whatever reflections on the broader excellences will be for later. Certainly, captaincy provided ample distraction from any such thoughts, making five bowling changes in the opening 12 overs in an attempt to find the right combinations with the ball. He even took to bringing himself on after 18 overs to try and unsettle the opening pair of Kusal Perera and Thirimanne, stifling expertly for the best part of 38 overs.
England were listless throughout the start of Sri Lanka’s second innings. The seamers did what they could with very little, while the spinners failed to create chances: shoddy lengths and the odd full toss during a raggedy 61 overs that ceded a hefty chunk of the 286-run advantage.
Gifted five for 30 on day one, Bess countered any talk of luck by talking of spells where you bowl out of your skin and return very little. Here was a reminder of the grey between the black and white, as 39 overs of spin returned just one scalp. Sometimes when you bowl badly, you get exactly what you deserve.
The biggest boon of the afternoon came with the sight of Moeen Ali in the England dressing room. The allrounder has been isolating since 3 January after returning a positive Covid upon arrival into Sri Lanka. He was due to be released from his separate accommodation on Wednesday, however Sri Lankan authorities insisted on a further couple of days when they became aware he was still displaying symptoms. Though he was ruled out of the second Test, which starts next Friday, this was a performance crying out for someone with 181 wickets, and the nouse of an experienced campaigner who averages 24.50 in these conditions.
There was a stage it seemed this match would follow the usual pattern of Galle Tests. The pleasantries of the first couple of days are merely the calm before the bedlam, usually at the behest of the pitch. But England, in total control and 185 ahead at the start of play, opted to accelerate.
The first 52 runs came in just 59 deliveries, brought up with the innings’ second six, chipped down the ground by Root after Jos Buttler had struck three fours in the previous over.
The strikes deformed the ball leading to a change for a newer one, with a more pronounced seam, which altered the momentum. Medium pacer Asitha Fernando benefitted immediately, taking successive wickets in a double-wicket maiden: Buttler (30) hurried on the outside edge, Sam Curran through the gate, losing his middle stump for a golden duck.
The following over saw Root move to his double hundred, sweeping hard for a 16th boundary to get there, then celebrating with his 17th. There was not much support at the other end, though Root didn’t help that by running out Dom Bess for nought, it’s pretty hard to hold it against him when he provided more than half of the runs.
He fell giving it one last heave to the leg side, handing Dilruwan Perera a flattering haul of four for 109. Root strolled off, congratulated by opposition’s fielders before settling back into an appreciative dressing room for lunch. There was a faint whiff of a result by the end of Saturday evening.
But that’s where the progression hit a roadblock fronted by Perera and Thirimanne. Greater judgement and less rogue shot selection produced the first wicketless session of the match: 35 overs providing nothing but 90 runs and stability through to tea.
Perera, as ever, was the chief mischief-maker. The quiet of his first 50 deliveries brought 16 runs and allowed him the hurry-up for the next 41 that took him to 50. The joy of a seventh half-century made way for pain with the next ball: a bouncer from Mark Wood around 93mph, aimed for his neck and rasping the top of his right hand.
His demise was entirely self-inflicted: cutting a wide short ball from Sam Curran out to Jack Leach at deep point. And though the scorecard makes it look like Thirimanne learned from his partner’s mistake, he should have fallen to a similar fate by similar means.
Dom Sibley, though, grassed a simple chance for what would have been 117 for two. Thirimanne took the life on 51 to extend his score beyond 64, his highest score in 55 innings, some eight years ago.
Even Kusal Mendis, in possession of an Audi of scoreless innings (four rings), avoided an Olympic haul (five) with a single greeted like a newborn. He’d go on to pick up a first boundary in 64 deliveries that has stretched across six innings and two countries.
His would be England’s second dismissal, and one that gave the tourists hope. A reminder of the biting turn and bounce still on offer, and reassurance through Leach that the slower bowlers were finally gaining consistency. Jos Buttler’s take behind the stumps was also a sharp bit of work.
Though by no means terminal, the struggle was a nod to bigger, more prolonged challenges that England would likely confront later this winter. Sri Lanka, visibly more confident, will hope established players ruled out for this Test can recover in time for next week. Meanwhile, India, out in Australia trying to close out the fourth Test, will have noted flaws to exploit in their four Tests coming next month.
Nevertheless, English minds are on the job that needs to be right now. One which need not be as hard as they made it look today.
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