Independent England sport Est. 2026 · England, every angle

No noise. No nonsense. Just England.

England men · Test · International series · 1st Test

Sri Lanka
v England⁠

Result

England won by 7 wickets

Sri Lanka
135 & 359
England
421 & 76/3
Date
14 Jan – 18 Jan 2021 · England in 2021
Start
04:30 UK
Venue
Galle International Stadium, Galle
Competition
Test · International series · 1st Test

Last checked 21 October 2026

Scorecard

Sri Lanka v England Test scorecard

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat

Sri Lanka · 1st innings 135 all out (46.1 overs)

Sri Lanka · 1st innings: batting
BatterHow outRB4s6sSR
HDRL Thirimanne c JM Bairstow b SCJ Broad 4 22 0 0 18.2
MDKJ Perera c JE Root b DM Bess 20 28 2 0 71.4
BKG Mendis c JC Buttler b SCJ Broad 0 2 0 0 0.0
AD Mathews c JE Root b SCJ Broad 27 54 1 1 50.0
LD Chandimal c SM Curran b MJ Leach 28 71 1 0 39.4
N Dickwella c DP Sibley b DM Bess 12 21 1 0 57.1
MD Shanaka c JC Buttler b DM Bess 23 48 3 0 47.9
PWH de Silva b DM Bess 19 22 2 0 86.4
MDK Perera b DM Bess 0 2 0 0 0.0
L Embuldeniya run out (MJ Leach) 0 1 0 0 0.0
AM Fernando not out 0* 7 0 0 0.0
Extras (b 0, lb 1, w 0, nb 1) 2
Total 46.1 overs 135

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (HDRL Thirimanne, 6.3 ov), 2-16 (BKG Mendis, 6.5 ov), 3-25 (MDKJ Perera, 10.2 ov), 4-81 (AD Mathews, 28.6 ov), 5-81 (LD Chandimal, 29.2 ov), 6-105 (N Dickwella, 38.1 ov), 7-126 (MD Shanaka, 42.3 ov), 8-126 (MDK Perera, 42.5 ov), 9-130 (L Embuldeniya, 43.5 ov), 10-135 (PWH de Silva, 46.1 ov)

Sri Lanka · 1st innings: bowling
BowlerOMRWEconWDNB
Stuart Broad 9 3 20 3 2.22 0 0
Sam Curran 4 2 8 0 2.00 0 0
Mark Wood 6 1 21 0 3.50 0 0
DM Bess 10.1 3 30 5 2.95 0 0
MJ Leach 17 2 55 1 3.24 0 1

England · 1st innings 421 all out (117.1 overs)

England · 1st innings: batting
BatterHow outRB4s6sSR
Zak Crawley c PWH de Silva b L Embuldeniya 9 26 1 0 34.6
DP Sibley c HDRL Thirimanne b L Embuldeniya 4 15 0 0 26.7
Jonny Bairstow c BKG Mendis b L Embuldeniya 47 93 2 0 50.5
Joe Root c L Embuldeniya b MDK Perera 228 321 18 1 71.0
Dan Lawrence c BKG Mendis b MDK Perera 73 150 6 1 48.7
Jos Buttler c N Dickwella b AM Fernando 30 57 3 0 52.6
Sam Curran b AM Fernando 0 1 0 0 0.0
DM Bess run out (sub (M Bhanuka)/N Dickwella) 0 4 0 0 0.0
MJ Leach lbw b MDK Perera 4 20 1 0 20.0
Mark Wood c N Dickwella b MDK Perera 2 9 0 0 22.2
Stuart Broad not out 11* 13 2 0 84.6
Extras (b 7, lb 0, w 0, nb 6) 13
Total 117.1 overs 421

Fall of wickets: 1-10 (DP Sibley, 4.2 ov), 2-17 (Z Crawley, 8.4 ov), 3-131 (JM Bairstow, 42.2 ov), 4-304 (DW Lawrence, 85.3 ov), 5-372 (JC Buttler, 104.1 ov), 6-372 (SM Curran, 104.2 ov), 7-382 (DM Bess, 105.6 ov), 8-398 (MJ Leach, 111.2 ov), 9-406 (MA Wood, 113.4 ov), 10-421 (JE Root, 117.1 ov)

England · 1st innings: bowling
BowlerOMRWEconWDNB
L Embuldeniya 45 4 176 3 3.91 0 2
AM Fernando 14 1 44 2 3.14 0 0
PWH de Silva 15 1 63 0 4.20 0 2
MDK Perera 36.1 2 109 4 3.01 0 2
MD Shanaka 7 1 22 0 3.14 0 0

Sri Lanka · 2nd innings 359 all out (136.5 overs)

Sri Lanka · 2nd innings: batting
BatterHow outRB4s6sSR
MDKJ Perera c MJ Leach b SM Curran 62 109 5 1 56.9
HDRL Thirimanne c JC Buttler b SM Curran 111 251 12 0 44.2
BKG Mendis c JC Buttler b MJ Leach 15 65 1 0 23.1
L Embuldeniya c DP Sibley b DM Bess 0 11 0 0 0.0
AD Mathews c JE Root b MJ Leach 71 219 4 0 32.4
LD Chandimal c JE Root b DM Bess 20 28 3 0 71.4
N Dickwella c JC Buttler b DM Bess 29 74 1 0 39.2
MD Shanaka b MJ Leach 4 5 0 0 80.0
PWH de Silva c JE Root b MJ Leach 12 18 2 0 66.7
MDK Perera st JC Buttler b MJ Leach 24 38 5 0 63.2
AM Fernando not out 0* 6 0 0 0.0
Extras (b 7, lb 1, w 0, nb 3) 11
Total 136.5 overs 359

Fall of wickets: 1-101 (MDKJ Perera, 37.4 ov), 2-155 (BKG Mendis, 59.5 ov), 3-158 (L Embuldeniya, 62.6 ov), 4-210 (HDRL Thirimanne, 82.1 ov), 5-243 (LD Chandimal, 91.3 ov), 6-291 (N Dickwella, 115.1 ov), 7-296 (MD Shanaka, 116.2 ov), 8-314 (PWH de Silva, 122.2 ov), 9-352 (MDK Perera, 132.5 ov), 10-359 (AD Mathews, 136.5 ov)

Sri Lanka · 2nd innings: bowling
BowlerOMRWEconWDNB
Stuart Broad 17 11 14 0 0.82 0 0
Sam Curran 11 1 37 2 3.36 0 1
DM Bess 33 4 100 3 3.03 0 0
Mark Wood 21 5 49 0 2.33 0 0
MJ Leach 41.5 6 122 5 2.92 0 1
Joe Root 11 1 19 0 1.73 0 0
Dan Lawrence 2 0 10 0 5.00 0 1

England · 2nd innings 76/3 (24.2 overs)

England · 2nd innings: batting
BatterHow outRB4s6sSR
Zak Crawley c BKG Mendis b L Embuldeniya 8 21 1 0 38.1
DP Sibley b L Embuldeniya 2 5 0 0 40.0
Jonny Bairstow not out 35* 65 2 0 53.8
Joe Root run out (N Dickwella) 1 3 0 0 33.3
Dan Lawrence not out 21* 52 0 0 40.4
Extras (b 4, lb 5, w 0, nb 0) 9
Total 24.2 overs 76/3

Did not bat: JC Buttler, SM Curran, DM Bess, MJ Leach, MA Wood, SCJ Broad

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (DP Sibley, 0.6 ov), 2-12 (Z Crawley, 4.6 ov), 3-14 (JE Root, 5.6 ov)

England · 2nd innings: bowling
BowlerOMRWEconWDNB
L Embuldeniya 12 3 29 2 2.42 0 0
MDK Perera 11.2 2 34 0 3.00 0 0
PWH de Silva 1 0 4 0 4.00 0 0

Player of the match: Joe Root · Umpires: HDPK Dharmasena, RSA Palliyaguruge · TV umpire: LE Hannibal · Match referee: RS Madugalle. Scorecard from ball-by-ball data by Cricsheet (opens in a new tab), used under the Open Data Commons Attribution License (opens in a new tab). Names as Cricsheet writes them; England players link to their profiles.

Men's senior internationals · Newest first

The 5 meetings before this one

2016 – 2018

Tests since 1982

England v Sri Lanka stats

Full head-to-head

Meetings39In our results database
England wins19England perspective
Draws, ties & NR11Drawn, tied or no result
Sri Lanka wins9Sri Lanka victories

Bet responsibly

18+ only. Odds and offers are subject to change and to the bookmaker's terms. Set a budget, never chase losses, and treat betting as entertainment. National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133, free, 24/7.

Gambling support: GambleAware.org (opens in a new tab)