England clinch the first Test match against Sri Lanka
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Root rules out England white-ball captaincy, shifts focus to India series and Ashes
28 Mar 25
England achieved their first victory in the first match of the series against Sri Lanka by seven wickets on Monday at the Galle International Stadium.
Jonny Bairstow and debutant Dan Lawrence knocked off the 36 runs required on the last day as England reached 76 for three in their second innings. Bairstow was 35 not out and Lawrence unbeaten on 21 in an unbeaten 62-run partnership.
They had to chase a target of 74 after bowling Sri Lanka out for 359 but lost three wickets early and were struggling at 14-3 before Bairstow and Lawrence took them to 38-3 when bad light stopped play on Sunday.
It took 9.2 overs for England to reach the victory and take a 1-0 lead in the two-test series.
England had prepared themselves up for the win on the opening day when Sri Lanka batting line up were destroyed by Dom Bess as he takes a fifer and Srilankan team were bowled out for 135.England captain Joe Root then hit 228 runs as England scored 421 for the first innings lead.
In their second innings, Sri Lanka's batsmen committed themselves even better and reorganized the margin, but Jack Leach's five wickets meant they were unable to set a more competitive target for England.
England clinches their first Test match against Srilanka and Joe Root were named as the Player of the Match. The second test is also being played at Galle which starts on Friday.
