< >

1st Test Sri Lanka v England Day1: Bowlers put England in commanding position

by Cricket World Thursday 14 January 2021

England's Joe Root celebrates his half century

©SLC

Top bowling from England and some inept batting from the Sri Lankan batsmen put England in a commanding position at close of play on day one of the 1^st Test, at the Galle International Stadium, Galle.

Match Summary

Sri Lanka 135 all out

England 127 - 2 (41 overs)

Close of Play Day 1 - England trail Sri Lanka by 8 runs with 8 wickets remaining

Scorecard

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow fight back after early wickets to take England to 127/2 at stumps on day one ??

They have put up an unbeaten 110-run partnership for the third wicket ??#SLvENG Scorecard ? https://t.co/uTfWpFGwrm pic.twitter.com/NBdC0gXQsK
— ICC (@ICC) January 14, 2021

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat and were completely undone by the England bowlers in a combination of some great bowling and also, some really poor shot choices by the Sri Lankan batsmen.

Stuart Broad (3-20) and Dom Bess (5-30) were the main wicket takers.

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Lahiru Thirimanne - 6.3 ov), 2-16 (Kusal Mendis - 6.5 ov), 3-25 (Kusal Perera - 10.2 ov), 4-81 (Angelo Mathews - 28.6 ov), 5-81 (Dinesh Chandimal - 29.2 ov), 6-105 (Niroshan Dickwella - 38.1 ov), 7-126 (Dasun Shanaka - 42.3 ov), 8-126 (Dilruwan Perera - 42.5 ov), 9-130 (Lasith Embuldeniya - 43.5 ov), 10-135 (Wanindu Hasaranga - 46.1 ov)

At the close of play, England trailed Sri Lanka by 8 runs, with 8 wickets remaining, with Joe Root 66* and Jonny Bairstow 47* at the wicket.

Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Dom Sibley - 4.2 ov), 2-17 (Zak Crawley - 8.4 ov)

Playing XIs

Sri Lanka - Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Perera, Dinesh Chandimal(c), Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella(wk), Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dilruwan Perera, Lasith Embuldeniya, Asitha Fernando

England - Zak Crawley, Dominic Sibley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root(c), Dan Lawrence, Jos Buttler(wk), Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad

Match Details

Start Time: 04:30

Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat

Venue: Galle International Stadium, Galle

Officials: Handunnettige Dharmasena, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Lyndon Hannibal, Raja Wimalasiri, Ranjan Madugalle