Foakes stars as England survive early stumble

England's Ben Foakes leaves the ground after the end of the first day of the opening Test match between Sri Lanka and England at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 6 November - AFP

Sri Lanka's Dilruwan Perera delivers a ball during the first day of the opening Test match between Sri Lanka and England at the Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on 6 November 2018. Dilruwan was pick of the bowlers with 4 for 70 - AFP 

By Madushka Balasuriya

It took an early top-order collapse  but by stumps on the first day in Galle England had finally seemed to come to grips with Sri Lanka’s spinners, and somehow manoeuvred an advantage that would have scarcely seemed possible a few hours earlier. 

That that was even remotely the case was for the steady hand of debutant Ben Foakes, who was unbeaten on 87, as England closed out the day at 321 for 8. The man who had been drafted in more for his wicketkeeping than his batting had given his detractors something to think about.

A crucial part of three lower order 50-plus stands, Foakes was the line which allowed the English kite to soar, coming out to the spinners, utilising the crease with aplomb, and sweeping confidently, he rarely looked trouble. 

At the crease with him at the end was tail-ender Jack Leach on 14, but on a Galle track that is only going to get slower, England may feel they already have enough.

That might not have always been the case though, after a disastrous morning session had seen the visitors lose their entire top order for just 103 runs. Heading into the break at 113/5 they would have been deeply disappointed at being unable to make use of a crucial win of the toss, and what is likely to be the best of the batting conditions over the next few days.

Sri Lanka’s lone seamer Suranga Lakmal began proceedings getting Joe Burns to glance one a little too fine down the leg side, as Niroshan Dickwella completed a good take behind the stumps. It would be a second for Lakmal a ball later, as Moeen Ali’s stumps were got at straight through bat and pad.

An ideal start for Sri Lanka but England were undeterred; the loss of two early wickets would have slowed down most teams, but this England side have been unlike most teams for quite some time now. Their brand of counterattacking, front-foot cricket has seen them summit the ODI rankings, and while the approach is more measured in Tests, it’s still a manifest departure from what many are accustomed to seeing.

As such, Joe Root and Keaton Jennings proceeded to take the game to the Lankan attack - Root in particular enjoyed himself, smashing four boundaries inside his first 21 deliveries he faced - as England hared along at nearly 5.5 runs an over. By the end of the first 10 overs England had hit as many boundaries such was their attacking disposition.

But with such aggression comes a price. The most common feature of Sri Lanka’s efforts in the field in the morning was the sheer lack of anything spectacular; on a sluggish surface, the Lankan bowlers were content to merely hit their lines and lengths - that they picked up as many wickets as they did was squarely down to England’s enterprising nature.

Root was the first to fall to this hubris, dancing down the track to Rangana Herath - bowling as metronomically as ever, in his final Test - only to find that he had overshot the ball, yorked himself and moments later heard his stumps rattle.

Ben Stokes, meanwhile, having faced barely three overs, chose to sweep Dilruwan Perera from outside the line of off stump only to navigate the ball onto the wickets.

Unlike his partners, Keaton Jennings - opening the batting - had played a relatively risk-free knock. Yes he swept regularly, but it was always measured, almost a defensive stroke far removed from the aggressive overtones of Stokes and Root. In his 53-ball 46 he also found the boundary with regularity and was for all intents and purposes looking set, but on a surface such as Galle’s things are rarely so simple. 

Having up until then negotiated the varying lines and lengths of Sri Lanka’s spinners successfully, the left-handed Jennings stayed back to a length ball from Perera, prepared to play it square. Coming from around the wicket, the delivery however skidded up off the surface, cramping Jennings as it proceeded to disturb his middle and leg stumps.

Lunch was a welcome reprieve for the visitors at this point, and their approach in the next two sessions showed they had learnt their lesson. With Jos Buttler and Foakes at the crease, England were initially watchful but gradually grew into the game.

The pair were patient in defence but unafraid to take on the loose deliveries. They had put on 61 with the only scare a tough chance at short leg, before Buttler was caught out by a low Perera skidder outside off stump, poking at it instinctively only to feather it through to Dickwella.

Foakes though was untroubled, putting on a further 88 and then 54 with Sam Curran and Adil Rashid respectively. Both Curran and Rashid were more adventurous in their shot-making, but that suited Foakes’ sedate style. Curran smoked three sixes in his innings, before one attempt too many saw him nick one through to first slip off Dhananjaya De Silva, while Rashid in his 38-ball 35 walloped two maximums of his own to go with four boundaries before also slicing through to the slip cordon.

England may have been particularly disappointed to have seen Rashid fall three overs before the end of play - especially seeing the potential of a burst on the second morning - but that is the hill this English outfit are willing to die on. An approach that is thus far being wholly vindicated.