SL VS ENG - 1st Test, England tour of Sri Lanka, 2021

Four consecutive Test wins for England in Sri Lanka which is quite an achievement. The second and final Test of this series will also be at Galle in four days time, and Sri Lanka will want to believe that their first-innings performance here, which cost them the game, was an aberration and nothing more. There's reason to believe that based on the fight they showed in the second innings. Can they bounce back to get even? We'll find out. That's all for now. See you next time!

Root, England captain: To come here with little preparation that we've had. For the two spinners to come out of the game with two fifers is brilliant. Testament to their character. The whole bowling group in general. To perform the way we did after lunch yesterday was brilliant. It's a brilliant achievement and shouldn't be overlooked (fifers from both spinners). Most exciting thing is there's more to come from ths group. Number of different challenges that come with it (bubble life). THing that pleased me the most about my own innings was my mindset. Got into a good place early on, and had a good balance between attack and defence. Expect Sri Lanka to turn up for the next Test match and improve as I'm expecting us to do as well.

Chandimal, SL captain: Were outplayed in the first innings with bat and ball. As a batting unit, we have to get a big total in the first innings. It cost us the game. Credit goes to Thirimanne, Angelo, Kusal. Everyone did their bit in the second innings. If we had another 70-80 runs, it could've been a different story. Have to take positives out of this and go on to the second Test. On the first day of this game, after coming from South Africa, our batting unit played like we were in South Africa. Have to stick to the gameplan for each individual. First innings total will be crucial.

10:22 Local Time, 04:52 GMT, 10:22 IST: As smooth a ride as England could've hoped for today. Bairstow and Lawrence were proactive, they scored at a brisk rate and were helped by the Lankan spinners who didn't quite get it right this morning. But it's hard to fault them. A target of 74 gave them little chance and it would've needed a miracle to make anything of it, even on a pitch where - as Bairstow puts it in his post-match interview - chunks were coming out. Eventually it all comes down to Sri Lanka's first-innings effort with the bat. They had a precious chance after winning the toss on this surface, and they wasted it. Joe Root made them pay heavily with a double hundred which set up a big lead. The second innings was a different story though as the Lankan batsmen showed a lot of resilience led by Thirimanne's and Mathews's efforts, giving them a peek, but Dom Bess and Jack Leach plugged away gamefully to make sure England weren't chasing too many.

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, FOUR, sweeps it past backward square! Bairstow is pumped as England pick up the win at Galle to go 1-0 up

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, no run, pushed through on a length on middle from round the wicket, Bairstow turns it to short midwicket

Embuldeniya to Daniel Lawrence, no run, floated up too full outside off, driven to cover

Embuldeniya to Daniel Lawrence, 2 runs, short outside off, turning away. Lawrence cuts through backward point and calls two straightaway. Two is what he'll get

Embuldeniya to Bairstow, 1 run, drifting in on leg, nudges it through midwicket

Embuldeniya to Bairstow, no run, sliding on to hit the front pad, they go up in appeal! There's an inside edge from Bairstow though. Embuldeniya knows that

Embuldeniya to Bairstow, no run, short ball outside off, Bairstow looks to cut but then sees the ball turning away sharply. Withdraws from the shot

Embuldeniya to Bairstow, 2 runs, flighted up just outside off, driven wide of sweeper cover. Dash back for two

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, 1 run, reverse-swept to deep backward point

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, no run, flat at the stumps, tucked to short leg

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, 2 runs, skips down the pitch again, this time he manages to flick it past leg slip

Dilruwan Perera to Bairstow, no run, dancing down, turns it to short midwicket

Dilruwan Perera to Daniel Lawrence, 1 run, pushes down the ground to long-on, fifty of the partnership. They've quelled any hope SL would've had

Dilruwan Perera to Daniel Lawrence, no run, dances down and flicks it with the turn to midwicket

Dilruwan Perera [10.0-2-26-0] is back into the attack

Embuldeniya to Bairstow, no run, defended into the off-side