Since England embraced an attacking approach to Test cricket, they have averaged around 4.65 runs per over. By the time they had secured a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka late on day four at Emirates Old Trafford though, they had got over the line going at just 3.5 runs per over in the chase.
Although relatively pedestrian by the standards the team have set since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum took charge two years ago, it should be noted that was still slightly above the average of 3.29 runs per over in all Tests around the world between 2003 and 2023.
Nevertheless, England showed the ability to grind out a win in a style not often seen from them in recent years against a Sri Lanka side who posed plenty of questions with the ball in both innings on a tricky pitch, chasing down 205 to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
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The best of the action on day four of the first Test between England and Sri Lanka.
“Those scores are always a semi-difficult chase, where it’s a nice wicket,” England’s first-innings centurion and player of the match Jamie Smith said.
“They also bowled nicely, they set straight fields and made it very difficult to score, so it was quite difficult at times.
“Joe Root anchored the innings quite nicely and allowed people to go and play around him, but thankfully we got over the line in what was a pretty hard-fought four days.”
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Check out the funniest moments from England’s first Test against Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford
It was the first examination for Ollie Pope as stand-in captain passed, too.
Although he did not get out of single figures with the bat in either innings, the 26-year-old had to wrestle with the issues of how to bowl Sri Lanka out twice on a surface which offered little for the bowlers for long periods.
Added to that was Pope being unable to call on the fearsome pace of Mark Wood, who suffered a thigh strain two balls into his 11th over and has subsequently been ruled out for the remaining matches at Lord’s and The Kia Oval.
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England’s Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope react to their victory against Sri Lanka in the first Test.
They were challenges the injured Stokes’ understudy readily embraced, though, and Pope was naturally pleased to oversee a victory which gives England a chance to wrap up a series victory in London this week.
“It was good,” Pope said. “I enjoyed it in the field reading the game and trying to find different ways of taking 20 wickets on a pitch which, once you got past 15 or 20 overs it was really difficult to bowl on.
“The first day was a bit more taxing than I expected, but I think that’s always going to be the case.”
Pope, who has served as vice-captain under Stokes, was able to stamp his own mark on the job, albeit with being able to tap into the advice of other senior players like former captain Root whenever he needed.
In Root’s case, he had to use all of his experience from his previous 143 Test appearances, 53 of which were as skipper, when he came to the crease with England in a spot of bother in both the first and second innings.
The 33-year-old has been one of the most enthusiastic embracers of England’s ‘Bazball’ philosophy with the bat, and yet his unbeaten 62 which helmed the home side’s victory push was perhaps one of the grittiest innings he has played.
Just how he and England had to dig in against Sri Lanka was underlined by the fact his match-winning innings came at a strike-rate of just 48.43 and Root was pleased the team showed they can do it the hard way, along with how Pope set the template for his three-match stint at the helm.
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Joe Root won it for England against Sri Lanka with a brilliant boundary on day four of the first Test.
“I offered a few bits here and there, but I didn’t need to offer much, and he was very in control of what was going on,” Root told Sky Sports.
“There were a few different things he had to contend with, and it wasn’t your typically English Test match, so hats off to him.
“He was very good at changing things up, trying different things and constantly trying to move the game in the right direction.
“It’s another step in the way we want to go as a team and for us to do it slightly differently and still find a way to win is a really good sign for us.”
Watch the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 10am on Thursday 11am first ball).
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