Sri Lanka vs England, 2nd Test Match Summary

Right, that wraps an enthralling series. Collapse seemed to have been a common factor to Sri Lanka this series (the first innings in the 1st Test and second innings in the 2nd Test). England though would be happy with this strong showing, as they head north to take on an Indian side brimming with sky-high confidence now. They go there for a 4-match Test series, followed by 5 T20Is and 3 ODIs. For Sri Lanka, they are still waiting to get the green signal for their planned tour of West Indies. That's your lot for the day. Do join us for future games. Cheers!

England skipper Joe Root is also the Man of the Match and Series. Says that it was a fine performance to come out on top after losing the toss where they had the worst of the conditions for the majority of the game. Adds that it's a testament of the character of the boys and in the second innings, it was all about dealing with pressure and the guys showed a lot of maturity. On England's plans this morning, on Day 4, Root replies that they wanted to narrow down the deficit. Regarding the bowling plans, Root shares that they wanted to create some chaos by drying out the boundaries and build some pressure. Root further says that they had very little preparation and it's very pleasing to get the results. States that they are happy with their achievements and he wants his team to keep on improving. Joe wants his team to keep the same attitude and desire to keep improving. On areas that they want to improve before the Indian tour, Root replies by saying that they want to improve in all the departments as they weren't entirely clinical in this series. On his most memorable win as a captain, Root says that it's hard to look past this win and there are a lot of positives to take forward.

Sri Lankan skipper, Dinesh Chandimal, says that they were outplayed on Day 4 after doing all the hard work in the last three days. Feels that they did the same mistake as a batting unit that they did on the first day of the first Test. Wants his team to learn from Root and admits that they played good in patches and it's not good against a team like England. Adds that he himself played a rash shot in the second segment and no one took the responsibility. Mentions that 250-plus would have been a good target on this track. Thinks that they need to step up as a batting unit. On the positives, Chandimal says that Lasith Embuldeniya was outstanding throughout the series and he does the hard work and always comes and asks how to improve. Feels that he will be a good asset for Sri Lanka going forward. On his own batting, Chandimal wants to learn from his mistakes and come back stronger.

Dom Sibley comes up for a quick chat! Smiles and says that he had a bit of a stinker in this series. Shares that he has prepared well against the spinners before the series, so was starting to doubt himself a bit. Admits that he was a bit lucky with the umpire's call in this innings. Tells that he just tried to spend time in the middle and build partnerships. Praises Root and adds that he played incredibly well, the way he swept, he made it look so easy. Says that he changed a few things in his batting and it worked for him. On facing spinners with the new ball, Sibley says that this is something he has never faced in England. Mentions that Buttler plays with a little higher tempo than him and he took the pressure off him. Regarding the tour of India, Sibley wants to wait and see with a few senior guys returning but he is happy to get some runs under his belt.

The England openers made their way out then, for the chase. Once again, Crawley fell early but Sibley and Bairstow did well to put England back on track. Post that, 3 quick wickets fell, including Root, and the hosts thought they were in with a chance. But Sibley and Buttler managed to steer England home and helped clinch a 2-0 series victory. For the hosts, overall, Embuldeniya had a 10-fer to show, in the match. Apart from him, it was a disappointing performance from the home team.

For Sri Lanka, Embuldeniya starred with the ball, picking up 7 wickets, with Dilruwan and Ramesh getting 1 each. And then, the Lanka batsmen stepped out to consolidate on that lead, with a plan in mind, get England to chase 240-250 (as their skipper had stated). However, there was a collapse and courtesy Embuldeniya, this time with the bat, they were able to put up something to defend. Their batting was questionable, with the skipper himself throwing away his wicket. There was not much responsibility taken by the batsmen. And unlike in the first innings, in the second, it was England's spinners who shone. 164 was England's target.

Stepping out to bat in response to that, England themselves were in early choppy waters but Root and Bairstow were back to doing the rescue work. There was a 111-run partnership between Jonny and Joe before the former fell. But Root marched on, and with assistance from Buttler and Bess, started shelving the deficit as much as possible. At the end of Day 3 though, he fell, 14 runs shy of his double ton, and in the end, the deficit was reduced down to 37.

Earlier, Sri Lanka had won the toss and chose to bat. The top order faced a mild collapse before Mathews combined with Thirimanne and Chandimal to take his side to safer shores. Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera would carry on the good work later and in the end, the Sri Lankans finished with 381, a good first innings total. For England, the seamers nabbed all the wickets, with Anderson leading the pack with a 6-wicket haul.

England have done it very nicely. They did not need Root at all, in the second innings. Many positives for them in the second innings itself, Buttler remaining not out on 46 and Sibley returning to form with a 50, just before the India series. Fitting that Dom Sibley gets the winning runs and seals the series in England's favour, 2-0! 5 wins in 5 Test matches in Asia, for Root.

ENGLAND WIN BY 6 WICKETS! Full and floated around middle, Sibley presses forward and flicks it through square leg for a run. Smiles in the English camp, they have done it!

Tossed up ball landing full around off, Buttler reverse sweeps it to deep backward point for a single. SCORES LEVEL!

Loopy and full on off, Sibley helps it towards square leg and steals a quick run.

A single and just 3 more are required for the Englishmen here. Shortish length delivery around the off pole, Sibley clips it to the mid-wicket region and takes one.

Motors the fuller length delivery through the covers and picks up a single.

Loopy and on off, blocked.

FOUR! HAMMERED! Gets down to the loopy ball and nails his slog sweep through the mid-wicket carpet for a boundary. England are just one hit away from a win. So too is Buttler, from his fifty.

Smart shot there from Dom. He was aware of the fact that there was no fielder at short fine leg. Paddles the fuller ball nicely through that region and picks up three as Suranga fields that.

Fuller in length ball, on off and middle, a big stride forward to defend it back to the bowler.

Turn and bounce from around off, Buttler moves back and taps it down to backward square leg.

Gets back and flicks it on the leg side, finds the fielder.

FIFTY FOR DOM SIBLEY! His third in Test career and must be the most satisfying one. He gets there by nudging a delivery through square leg for a run. His teammates are up in the balcony. A knock of great character!

Full and floated on off, Sibley inside edges his attempted flick and it rolls towards leg slip.

Loopy and full on middle, Dom works it on the leg side, finds short mid-wicket.

Strides forward to a full ball and defends it back.

Fuller in length on the middle stump line, JB is watchful as he defends it back on the pitch.

Did not come back in enough there. Lasith Embuldeniya loops it outside off. It pitches and comes back in, only just though, not enough to trouble the batter to play at it and Jos Buttler chooses not to fiddle at that.

Comes on the front foot and fends this one out.

The batsman has just watchfully blocked this out.

Shorter length ball, outside off, this time he nurdles it wide of the man at backward point. Comes back for a couple as the deep point fielder runs and mops it up.

Turning away, outside the off pole, on a shortish length. Jos Buttler lets the ball complete its turn and stabs it to the point region.