JOE Root's unbeaten 62 led England to a five-wicket win against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Chasing 205, England found themselves in trouble at 56-2 when Root came to the crease shortly before tea on the fourth day.
Root and Harry Brook (32) formed a steady partnership, adding 49 runs in 20 overs. The slow outfield made scoring boundaries difficult, in contrast to England's aggressive style in recent years.
The match remained competitive when Brook was dismissed, giving a return catch to left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya. England was 119-4, still needing 86 runs to secure the win.
Jamie Smith, who scored a maiden Test century in the first innings, supported Root with a quick 39. Their 64-run partnership took England to 205-5, giving them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Smith's performance helped offset the absence of regular captain Ben Stokes, who missed the series due to a torn hamstring.
Sri Lanka's effort to extend the match into the fourth day demonstrated their resilience, particularly after their early collapse to 6-3 on the first morning. Their fight continued on Saturday before Smith hit consecutive fours off Jayasuriya and later pulled him for six.
Smith was eventually bowled by Asitha Fernando with England close to victory at 183-5.
Root reached fifty soon after and sealed the win with a four off Jayasuriya, finishing the match with just his second boundary after facing 128 balls.
"We had to work hard for that over the four days, but we bowled really well throughout," said stand-in England captain Ollie Pope to the BBC. "Jamie Smith batted so well, and then Joe (Root) put on a clinic for us at the end."
Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva acknowledged England's strong performance. "We knew that England would come hard against us. We had our plans, but in the first innings, we couldn't execute them. Our mistakes were made in the first innings, and that cost us the match."
Earlier, Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis scored his third century in just four Tests, making 113 in a second-innings total of 326. Mendis came to the crease with Sri Lanka struggling at 95-4 and shared a 117-run partnership with Dinesh Chandimal (79) for the seventh wicket.
England faced a setback before play on Saturday when fast bowler Mark Wood was ruled out with a thigh injury suffered while bowling late on Friday. Sri Lanka resumed on 204-6, just 82 runs ahead, after Smith's 111 anchored England's first-innings total of 358.
Mendis, who was dropped on 39, resumed his innings at 56 not out, with Chandimal on 20. Mendis quickly found his rhythm, hitting Gus Atkinson for consecutive fours and pulling him behind square.
Chandimal completed fifty off 73 balls after resuming his innings with the help of a pain-killing injection, having retired hurt on 10 when struck on the thumb by Wood.
Mendis reached his century with a cut off Chris Woakes, his 12th boundary in a 167-ball innings that included a six. He followed this with three fours off Atkinson in the first over after lunch, pushing Sri Lanka past 300.
However, Mendis was dismissed shortly after, edging a delivery from Atkinson to Root at slip. Despite his dismissal, Mendis ended with an impressive Test batting average of 92.
Sri Lanka's final four wickets fell for just 19 runs. The second Test at Lord's begins on Thursday.
(With inputs from agencies)
Chitrangda Singh
Chitrangda Singh
