Moeen Ali took 4 wickets and Jack Leach a further 3 as England bowled out Sri Lanka for 250 on the 4th Day of the 1st Test and in doing so sealed a thumping 211 run win. Starting the day at 15-0, Sri Lanka made England work hard during the first hour of play, reaching 51 before Leach got the breakthrough to settle a few nerves. When Ben Stokes took the 3rd wicket on the stroke of lunch it always looked likely that England would wrap up things with a day to spare. Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews offered some resistance for the home team with a stubborn 53, his 2nd half-century of the match but wickets continued to fall at fairly regular intervals to leave England with a rare win on Sri Lankan soil.
A fortress in more than just one sense
The stadium at Galle is a magnificent venue to play cricket at and is further evidence if any were needed that it is the character of a ground rather than just its capacity and number of corporate hospitality boxes that is most important when considering the scheduling of matches and future development of playing areas around the world. At times you could hear the ocean crashing on the shores at one side of the ground, punctuated only by the occasional beep of a horn that signified the hustle and bustle of the busy city beyond. However, the crowning feature of the ground is the ruins of the old Dutch fort that dominates the skyline at one end of the pitch. Apparently, spectators are able to access the ramparts of the fort for free and while you wouldn't get a very close view of the action, it would certainly be a unique position from which to experience a cricket match from.
While the Dutch may have left Ceylon some time ago, the Sri Lankan cricket team has maintained Galle as a place worth defending and have found sanctuary on it's turning pitches in the same way that the empire building Europeans once did behind their high stone walls. England had never won here before today (played 4, drawn 2, lost 2) with Sri Lanka having won 5 of their last 6 matches on this ground which was no doubt why Ragana Herath (who has taken over 100 wickets himself at Galle) was keen to play one last game here before retirement. As has been discussed in the previous days' analysis this is hardly a strong Sri Lanka team but England will take great heart from the fact that they have won away from home in alien conditions and done so in such convincing fashion.
Root plays the perfect hand
In yesterday's post, I queried whether this England attack and their captain Joe Root would be able to do the business and take the 10 wickets necessary to win the game. Today, they answered those questions without any doubt and while Moeen and Leach did the bulk of the wicket-taking, all of the bowlers have played a part at some time in the game with Joe Root doing an excellent job of managing the resources he had available to him.
Unlike the previous games that England have played here and the kind of pitches that Sri Lanka have been preparing at Galle over the last few years, this one never really transformed into the kind of turning dustbowl that we had been warned it would. Perhaps that is in large part a result of the torrential rain (including some massive overnight storms during this week) that has swept through the area in recent times, which while not affecting the play itself did leave the pitch with a kind of plasticine look to it. For the first session at least, the ball generally didn't bounce very much and what turn there was came at a leisurely pace. England, therefore, had to bide their time and turned primarily to the accurate left-arm spin of Jack Leach who bowled wicket to wicket and finally got the breakthrough by trapping Silva LBW for 30. He was given good support by both James Anderson and Moeen Ali, although questions will be asked about Adil Rashid's performance after a couple of mixed spells from him in this 2nd innings. As @jpm8341 noted in the comments section of one of my previous posts, it's often accuracy and patience that wins out in the sub-continent and Leach possesses those qualities in far greater abundance than Adil Rashid. Let's not also forget that had it not been for an unfortunate couple of injuries earlier this season that it's entirely possible that Leach would have been England's first choice spinner for the home games against Pakistan and India instead of Dom Bess and then Adil Rashid.
<grammarly-btn>The session after lunch saw Root continue with Ben Stokes who bowled a quick and fiery spell of 5 overs from one end while Jack Leach toiled away at the other. Stokes caused problems to Kusal Mendis in particular (see below) with his short-pitched bowling which of course was followed up by the occasional volley of verbal abuse aimed at the diminutive Sri Lankan batsman after he continued to play and miss at the burly Englishman's deliveries. James Anderson then returned to the fray and showed all the class and skill that have made him the leading wicket taking seamer bowler of all time with some mesmeric reverse swing. Neither Stokes or Anderson took a wicket after lunch but their efforts and Root's foresight in bringing them into the attack as opposed to going with spin at both ends should be commended. They offered the Sri Lanka batsmen a different challenge and I felt that the pairings that Root chose throughout the day complimented each other ideally - big tick in the captaincy box for him!
<grammarly-btn>Once the ball got towards 60 overs old it was evident that the turn was becoming more pronounced. This was likely a result of the softnesses and rough on the ball as well as the sun beginning to dry out the pitch. Root took the opportunity to play his trump card in Moeen Ali who did the business again for England to add another 4 wickets to the 4 that he took in the first innings. Despite a couple of brain farts with the bat Moeen has had a very good match and after a disappointing winter last year, his 3 Tests back in the side show his value to England.
Kusal Mendis, a young talent that has lost his way
None of Sri Lanka's batsmen really showed the kind of grit and determination that was going to be necessary for them to escape this match with a draw. Particularly disappointing was the showing from Kusal Mendis, the middle order batsman who debuted in 2015 as a 20-year-old and looked like the kind of talent who might be able to go on and replace the likes of Sangakkara and Jayawardene in the Sri Lanka team. However, that has not been the case and his returns of late have been steadily decreasing. Today, his mind seemed totally scrambled and he showed little intention of playing the kind of innings that his team needed. Stokes worked him over with the short ball and Mendis' response was to attempt a couple of high-risk ramp shots which luckily for him he missed! He played one glorious lofted drive off Leach but very next ball he attempted a similar shot which he mistimed straight down the throat of Moeen Ali in the deep. It was the kind of dismissal you might normally see during a T20 game, not by a batsman whose side needs him to stick around and fight for the cause.
So what's the cause of Mendis' failure to progress as a cricketer? The abundance of white ball cricket that young players play could have something to do with it and certainly today he didn't ever look likely to be happy with just milking the singles that England had on offer. This is not a criticism that can only be leveled at Mendis and as we saw from England's performance in the 1st session of the 1st Day, batsmen are increasingly unwilling to go more than a couple of overs without looking to hit a boundary. Equally, all players who come into Test Match cricket will need to go through a period of reflection and refinement of their technique. Cricket at this level is like an arms race, when you are new on the scene no one knows what weapons you've got at your disposal and that can give you an advantage. However, that advantage won't last too long and once the opposition captains and bowlers have caught up with you there is a need to change and adapt your game to overcome the kind of traps that they've set. Even the very best in Virat Kohli showed as much during India's tour of England this summer. If you want to be successful in this sport at this level then you must keep working and improving on your technique and for me, it seems as though Kusal Mendis is unable or unwilling to do so.
Video Highlights to follow when they become available in about 12 hours time
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