England wrapped up the 2nd Test to seal the 3-match Test series early on day 5. This 57-run win for England will also go down history as the match with the most number of wickets claimed by spinners.
Photos : Sri Lanka Vs England | 2nd Test – (Day 05)
The 5th and final day of the game began with Sri Lanka still having an outside chance of pulling off a win and squaring the series. The hosts relying heavily on their last recognized batsman, Niroshan Dickwella, lost him in the 6th over of the day.
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Having cautiously added 14 runs on a day which began early to compensate for the loss of overs on the previous day, Dickwella tried to drive Moeen Ali hard, only to edge the ball straight to Ben Stokes at slip.
Sri Lankan skipper, Suranga Lakmal who walked in next after Dickwella (35) lived only 2 deliveries as he was castled by Ali. Moeen Ali, bowling extremely well in his short spell together with Jack Leach, was the pick of the 2 finger spinners this morning.
Letting Joe Root not make any bowling change, Jack Leach dismissed Malinda Pushpakumara claiming his maiden 5-wicket haul in Tests. Akila Dananjaya remaining not out at the end walked away with 8 runs to his account facing 28 deliveries.
Interestingly the 38 wickets taken by spinners in this match is the highest in the history of the game.
Both teams will now move to Colombo for the 3rd and last Test starting on the 23rd of this month.
