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England batter Joe Root continued to rewrite record books, becoming the English player with most fifties in Test cricket following a match-winning effort against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Manchester.
After a fine 42 in the first innings, Root once again showcased his class, composure and clutch game in a tense run chase of 205 runs, scoring an unbeaten 62 in 128 balls, with two fours, coming in when England was 56/2. Now, Root has scored 64 fifties for England, the most by a batter from his team and overall third-highest. He is just behind Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies (66 fifties) and Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar (68 fifties) in the list of most Test half-centuries. This was also Root's 10th fifty-plus score in fourth innings, showcasing his immense mastery and command over this phase of the game. Above him are greats like Michael Atherton, Alastair Cook, who have scored 11 half-centuries each in fourth innings. This was also Root's eighth fifty-plus score at Manchester, making him the player with most fifty-plus scores at this venue in Test cricket. Coming to the match, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (74 in 84 balls, with eight fours) and Milan Rathnayake (72 in 135 balls, with six fours and two sixes) that pushed SL to 236/10. Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) were the top bowlers for England. Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle order batters Joe Root (42 in 57 balls with four boundaries), Harry Brook (56 in 73 balls with four boundaries), centurion Jamie Smith (111 in 148 balls, with eight fours and a six) helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs. Ashitha Fernando (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka. In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews (65 in 145 balls, with two fours and a six), Dinesh Chandimal (79 in 119 balls, with seven fours) formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs. Woakes and Matthew Potts (3/47) took fine three wickets each to lead England bowling charts. In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root's calm and composed half-century (62* in 128 balls with two fours) and solid contributions from Brook (32 in 68 balls, with three fours) and Smith (39* in 48 balls, with four boundaries and a six) took England to a five wicket win. England take a 1-0 lead in two-match series. Smith took home 'Player of the Match' award for his century. (ANI)
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