Sri Lanka vs England, 2nd Test - Records Made, Joe Root's Magical Series

England beat Sri Lanka in the 2nd test match, played at Galle, and won the series 2-0. Joe Root was declared player of the series for the 426 runs he made during the two matches. 

Here are the top records made during the second test match between Sri Lanka and England.

1) Sri Lanka got all out for 381 in the first innings. It was only the 2nd instance in the last 25 years on Sri Lankan soil where the pacers picked up all ten wickets in a Test inning. The last time this happened was in Sri Lanka’s first innings in the 2001 Kandy Test which was also recorded by the England pace bowlers (Darren Gough – 4, Andy Caddick – 4, and Craig White – 2)

2) James Anderson, at the age of 38 years and 177 days, became the oldest fast bowler to pick a five-wicket haul in Test cricket in Asia. Sir Richard Hadlee was the previous oldest to take a five-wicket haul. It came against India in the 1988 Mumbai Test at the age of 37 years and 145 days.

3) Lasith Embuldeniya’s seven-wicket haul in England’s first innings was the first for Sri Lanka in Test cricket since Rangana Herath (8/63) during the 2016 Harare Test against Zimbabwe. Embuldeniya is now only the 6th player to bag a 7-wicket haul for Sri Lanka in Test cricket and the 3rd after Muttiah Muralitharan and Herath to do so at the Galle Stadium. He has also become the 2nd Sri Lankan with a 7-wicket Test haul against England after Muralitharan, who has four such hauls. 

4) England won each of their last five Test matches played away from home; a streak that began by winning their last three Tests during the 2019-20 tour of South Africa. England has now won each of their last six Test matches on Sri Lanka soil; their 2nd longest winning streak in Test cricket in any away country. 

5) All the ten wickets in Sri Lanka’s first innings were picked by England’s pacers, while the ten wickets in the 2nd innings were claimed by the spinners. This is the first-ever instance of a team having all ten wickets in an innings picked by the pacers and all ten in the other bagged by the spinners in the same Test match.

6) England’s successful chase of the 164-run target was the first 100+ run-chase by a visiting team at Galle. This was also the 2nd highest successful chase by any team at Galle in Test cricket after the 268-run chase by Sri Lanka in the 2019 Test against New Zealand.

Joe Root's Record-Breaking Test

7) Joe Root’s 186 was his 3rd test hundred on Sri Lankan soil; the joint 2nd most by any visiting player. Sachin Tendulkar leads the list with five centuries while Brian Lara, Younis Khan, Virender Sehwag, Azhar Ali, Mohammad Ashraful, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Shikhar Dhawan also have three tons apiece in Sri Lanka. 

8) Root became the first visiting player with 400+ runs in a two-match Test series in Sri Lanka. Stephen Fleming’s 376 runs in the 2003 Test series were the previous most aggregate in a 2-match series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.

9) Joe Root became the first player in the history of Test cricket to bag multiple wickets without conceding a run in the match. Root is also the 2nd player to pick two or more wickets in a Test innings without giving away a run. Richie Benaud had three wickets to his name against India in the 1959 Delhi Test without conceding a run.

10) Joe Root has now scored 1001 test runs against Sri Lanka, the 2nd most Test runs by an Englishman against the Lankans after Sir Alastair Cook’s 1290 runs.