Analysing the England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test match

England continued their domination at home with a sensational 5-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test match hosted at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. English wicket-keeper batsman Jamie Smith took his performance on the next level having racked up his maiden Test hundred in the first innings. An all-round effort from the England bowlers saw the Sri Lankan batting line-up struggle in both the innings. The Ollie Pope-led England team have now taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series. In this blog post, we will take a look at the complete analysis for the England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test match. 

England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test review

After winning the toss and opting to bat first in the ENG vs SL 1st Test match, Sri Lankan team got off to a horrible start having lost as many as three wickets with just 6 runs on the scoreboard. Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva led his team from the front at one end as he scored a fine knock of 74 runs off 84 deliveries that included 8 boundaries while debutant Milan Rathnayake also smashed 72 runs off 135 balls. Sri Lanka got bowled out for a total of 236 runs in 74 overs. For England, the duo of Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir picked up three wickets each while speedster Gus Atkinson also took two vital scalps. 

In reply, England also ended up losing three quick wickets for just 67 runs after which the duo of Joe Root and Harry Brook added a 58-run stand for the fourth wicket. Brook scored an impressive half-century, however, the standout innings came from England's young wicket-keeper batsman Jamie Smith as he amassed a staggering knock of 11 runs that consisted of 8 fours and 1 six. Hosts England were bowled out for 358 runs in the first innings with a healthy lead of 122 runs. 

Sri Lankan batting line-up came up with an improved show in the second innings of the England vs Sri Lanka 1st Test match as the senior duo of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal went on to score brilliant half-centuries each. On the other hand, Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis showed amazing temperament as he scored 113 runs off 183 deliveries that included 15 fours and 1 six. Sri Lanka were bowled out for a total of 326 runs in the second innings, while setting a fourth innings target of 205 runs for the home side. 

During the fourth innings, things did became nervy for England as they lost the trio of Ben Duckett, skipper Ollie Pope and Daniel Lawrence with just 70 runs on the board. Harry Brook too managed to score 32 runs off 68 deliveries before getting dismissed by Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. The pair of Joe Root and Jamie Smith then brought stability to the England innings with a fantastic partnership of 64 runs. After scoring his maiden ton in the first innings, Smith played a vital knock of 39 runs off 48 deliveries in the second innings. However, it was Root who stayed unbeaten till the end at 62 runs as England got home safely with a 5-wicket victory. 

For his amazing performance with the bat in both the innings of the Test match, Jamie Smith was named the Player of the Match. England currently claim the fourth position in the ICC World Test Championship points table. 

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