England on Tuesday defeated Sri Lanka in the first One Day International of the series by five wickets as Joe Root remained unbeaten at 79.
Batting first, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 185 in 42.3 overs with skipper Kusal Perera scoring 73 for his side. Wanindu Hasaranga, who made 54, was the only other Sri Lankan batsman to score a fifty. The remaining nine batsmen could only contribute with 41 runs as their collective efforts.
Chris Woakes was the tormentor-in-chief for Sri Lankas as he finished with 4-18 in 10 overs. David Willey picked up three wickets while Moeen Ali took one wicket.
England’s start was electric as Jonny Bairstow began to hit Sri Lankan bowlers all around the ground. He made 43 runs in 21 balls before getting bowled out by Binura Fernando. Joe Root batted with immense maturity even as England continued to lose wickets at the other end. He remained not out at 79. Root faced 87 balls and scored four boundaries as he guided England to a comfortable win with 15.1 overs to spare.
Also contributing with runs was Moeen Ali, who made 28 in 57 balls.
Reacting to England’s win, Woakes told BBC, “I felt good today, it is always nice to get a couple early. It sets up your game as a bowler. It was a professional performance from the unit, it wasn’t the best wicket but it wasn’t the worst, so bowling them out for 185 was a good effort.”
Woakes was declared Man Of The Match for his devastating bowling.
England captain Eoin Morgan said, “I’m delighted. Full credit to our bowling unit today, it really did fire.
“Joe Root is one of the best in the world in most situations. He showed his class. Even yesterday at training it was notable how easy he finds things.”
The second ODI between England and Sri Lanka would be played at the Oval on 1 July.