ENG vs SL: Test feat for Alastair Cook, England win series

England captain Alastair Cook celebrates after reaching the 10,000-run mark in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street. (Photo: AFP)

England beat Sri Lanka by nine wickets on the fourth day of the second Test at the Riverside on Monday.

Victory gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

England, set 79 to win after making Sri Lanka follow on, finished on 80/1. England captain Alastair Cook was 47 not out, having become the first Englishman and only 12th player overall to score 10,000 Test runs when he reached five.

At tea, England were 33/0, needing just a further 46 runs to reach their winning target of 79.

Cook was 23 not out at the Riverside, having scored the five he needed to and just the 12th player of all time to score 10,000 Test runs.

Left-hander Cook reached the landmark when he clipped Nuwan Pradeep for four through mid-wicket, having got off the mark with an edged single against left-arm spinner Rangana Herath.

At 31 years and 157 days he was the youngest player ever to achieve the feat, beating the previous record of India great Sachin Tendulkar (31 years and 326 days).

Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal’s excellent hundred denied England a second straight innings victory as Sri Lanka, following on, made 475. SCOREBOARD England 1st Innings: 498/9 decl. Sri Lanka 1st Innings: 101 Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (o/n 309/5): D. Karunaratne c Root b Woakes 26, K. Silva c Bairstow b Finn 60, K. Mendis c Bairstow b Anderson 26, L. Thirimanne b Ali 13, A. Mathews c Bairstow b Anderson 80, D. Chandimal b Broad 126, M. Siriwardana c Hales b Anderson 35, R. Herath lbw b Anderson 61, S. Eranga b Anderson 1, S. Lakmal c Broad b Woakes 11, N. Pradeep (not out) 13. Extras: (b 5, lb 11, w 1, nb 6) 23. Total: (in 128.2 overs) 475 FoW: 1-38, 2-79, 3-100, 4-182, 5-222, 6-314, 7-430, 8-442, 9-453, 10-475 Bowling: Anderson 27-9-58-5, Broad 24-6-71-1 (2nb), Woakes 27.2-8-103-2 (1w), Finn 19-0-78-1 (1nb), Ali 28-5-136-1 (3nb), Vince 1-1-0-0; Root 2-0-13-0

England 2nd Innings: A. Cook (not out) 47, A. Hales b Siriwardana 11, N. Compton (not out) 22. Extras: 0. Total: (for 1 wkt, in 23.2 overs) 80 Bowling: Herath 10-3-18-0, Pradeep 2-0-12-0, Siriwa-rdana 7.2-0-37-1, Lakmal 3-0-9-0, Eranga 1-0-4-0