England on Monday (January 18) completed the formalities as they overhauled a paltry target of 74 in the fourth innings to secure a comprehensive 7-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test at the Galle International Stadium.

Chasing the target, the visitors were reduced to 12/3 at one stage before they finished the fourth day on 38/3 with Jonny Bairstow and Daniel Lawrence remaining unbeaten at the crease.

In the first session on Day 5, the pair of Bairstow and Lawrence took the team over the line without any further hiccup as they stayed unbeaten on 35 and 21, respectively.

Earlier, England rode on skipper Joe Root’s masterful 228 to post 421/10 in the first innings, taking a massive lead of 286 runs over the hosts.

In the second essay, Sri Lanka did well with the bat, scoring 359/10 thanks to Lahiru Thirimanne’s 111 and fifties from Angelo Mathews (71) and Kusal Perera (62) but the effort couldn’t avoid a heavy defeat.

The second and final Test will be played at the same venue from January 22.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka 135/10 & 359/10 (Lahiru Thirimanne 111; Jack Leach 5-122) lost to England 421/10 & 76/3 (Jonny Bairstow 35; Lasith Embuldeniya 2-29) by 7 wickets.