My match ratings:
Duckett 4–gave England some kind of platform at least, but didn’t kick on
Lawrence 6–not a bad effort for his first shot as opener, got in, so he did his job I guess, though I thought his dismissal in the first innings was unusually tame
Pope 4–in another set-up he might be under pressure for his batting performances, as it is, he finds himself captaining his country, where I think he did a solid job
Root 8–helped England in two sticky little situations with the bat, luckily his dropped dolly didn’t make any difference, and picked up a wicket with the ball
Brook 7–unlucky in the first innings to get a cracking ball from Jayasuriya, good start and then a soft dismissal in the second
Smith 8–first real mistake behind the stumps, though it didn’t seem to affect him too much, and just as importantly, his first Test ton
Woakes 8–just so dependable bowling in English conditions, doesn’t look out of place at #7 with the bat neither
Atkinson 6–good in the first innings, got bashed around in the second innings but picked up the vital wicket of Mendis, handy knock with the bat too up at #8 but put down a presentable chance in the field
Potts 6–poor in the first innings, got 3 in the second and could have got more if not for dropped catches
Wood 7–just an absolutely box office cricketer with bat and ball, he was missed today
Bashir 6–did get a grubber of a wicket in the first innings, unlucky with a few others though
K Fernando 1–two failures with the bat
Karunarate 4–failed in the first innings, looked set in the second until Wood came along
Kusal Mendis 4–the reverse of Karunaratne
Mathews 6–horrible dismissal in the first innings at a time Sri Lanka could ill afford it, battled hard in the second innings until the new old ball came
Chandimal 8–horrendously unlucky in the first innings, a brave knock in the second which only came to an end when slogging with the tail
De Silva 7–steadied the ship when Sri Lanka needed it in the first innings
Kamindu Mendis 8–fantastic century to get Sri Lanka into a position where they could win, two similar dismissals though, I wonder if that’s something England can target going forward
Rathnayake 6–mediocre with the ball, but a great first innings knock when Sri Lanka were in trouble
Jayasuriya 7–two absolute corkers in the first innings
V Fernando 5–didn’t quite work out for him with the ball
A Fernando 7–Sri Lanka’s best bowler