Calm Root steers England to five-wicket win over Sri Lanka

MANCHESTER, August 24

A controlled 64-run partnership between Joe Root and Jamie Smith guided England to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the first test at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Mushfiqur ton nullifies Pak pace

Rawalpindi: Mushfiqur Rahim dug in to score a superb 191 and share a record stand with Mehidy Hasan Miraz as Bangladesh nullified Pakistan’s pace attack in the first test on Saturday. Mushfiqur’s 11th test hundred, and first against Pakistan, came in more than 8-1/2 hours and lifted Bangladesh to 565 all out on Day 4.

Root dug in after England had made a shaky start to chasing a modest victory target of 205, reaching his half-century off 108 balls.

England lost opener Ben Duckett early when he edged to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis for 11 and captain Ollie Pope soon following him back to the pavilion, caught at slip for six.

Dan Lawrence (34) was next to go, trapped lbw by Milan Rathnayake. Harry Brook (32) shared a 49-run partnership with Root before being caught and bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya, leaving England wobbling at 119-4.

Root, unbeaten on 62, hit only his second four from the last ball of the match to give England a 1-0 lead in the three-test series.