SL vs ENG, 2021: 1st Test, Day 5 – England’s winning streak, End of Thirimanne’s wait, Root only behind Kohli and more stats

England took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match Test series against Sri Lanka after completing a 7-wicket win on the final day of the series opener. Lahiru Thirimanne’s century helped Sri Lanka post 359 in their 2nd innings after they conceded a first-innings lead of 286 runs. England got a target of 74 runs in reply to which their openers collectively scored 10 runs. Skipper Joe Root was dismissed runout leaving his team at 14/3. Later Jonny Bairstow (35*) and Danny Lawrence (21*) took England safely over the line with an unbeaten 62-run partnership.

Here are all the statistical highlights from England’s 7-wicket victory during the Galle Test match:

England’s winning streak in Sri Lanka:

5 – England has won each of their last five matches in Test cricket on Sri Lankan soil. They are now only the 2nd visiting team to win as many as five successive matches in Sri Lanka in the longer format. India also won each of their last five Test matches in Sri Lanka starting from August 2015.

England’s 8 Test wins in Sri Lanka are the joint 2nd most for a visiting team behind India’s nine wins. Pakistan also won as many as eight Test matches in Sri Lanka thus far.

Root only behind Kohli:

4 – Joe Root has won in all the four matches in which he led England in Test cricket on Sri Lankan soil. He is only the 2nd visiting captain in Sri Lanka to win four or more Test matches after Virat Kohli (5). The Indian skipper Kohli lost his maiden Test in Sri Lanka before winning five in a row.

2 – Root is now the first visiting captain to win multiple matches in Test cricket at the Galle International stadium. Root led England to victory at this venue in 2018 which was also England’s maiden Test win in Galle.

England’s mini-collapse:

74 – England lost three wickets for only 14 runs on the board while chasing a target of 74. This is the joint lowest target while defending when Sri Lanka took three or more wickets in Test cricket. Lankans took six wickets while defending 74-run target in the 2001 Colombo (SSC) Test also against England.

Embuldeniya’s record:

4 – Lasith Embuldeniya became the first spinner in the history and overall the 4th bowler to dismiss the openers of the opposition for single digits in both innings of a Test match. Malcolm Marshall against India in the 1983 Kanpur Test, Suranga Lakmal against West Indies in the 2018 Bridgetown Test, and Kyle Jarvis against Bangladesh in the 2018 Dhaka Test are the other three such players with the feat.

End of Thirimanne’s wait for a Test ton:

2872 – Lahiru Thirimanne’s 111-run knock was only his 2nd century in Test cricket with the first coming in 2013 Galle Test against Bangladesh where he scored an unbeaten 155 at No.4 position. Between these two hundreds, Thirimanne spent 2872 days which is the 2nd longest gap for a Sri Lankan between two Test tons. Upul Tharanga spent 3888 days between his first and second hundreds in this format.

Spinners deliver for England:

1982 – Dominic Bess and Jack Leach became the first pair of spinners with 5-wicket hauls in a Test match for England since the 1982 Test match against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval. Derek Underwood and John Emburey took a fifer each in what was the debut game for Sri Lanka in Test cricket.

Root gets runout yet again:

5 – Joe Root now has been dismissed runout on five instances in Test cricket while leading England. Root is only the 4th captain to be dismissed run out five or more times in Test cricket after Ricky Ponting (9), Stephen Fleming (6) and Geoff Howarth (5).

Maiden stumping for Buttler:

1 – The stumping of Dilruwan Perera was the first-ever stumping dismissal for Jos Buttler in Test cricket. Buttler had taken 114 catches in this format before his maiden stumping including 91 catches as wicketkeeper. The only wicketkeeper with more catches before maiden stumping in Test cricket is Dave Richardson (119).