Joe Root Leads the Way on an Unplugged Guitar as the Exuberant England Celebrations Begin
Joe Root hailed England’s history makers after his team completed a dominant 3-0 series whitewash of Sri Lanka with a thrilling 42-run victory in the final Test.
The tourists had already wrapped up the series with wins in the opening two matches at Galle and Kandy.
But they finished the tour in style with another triumph at the Sinhalese Sports Club to become only the third England side — and first in 55 years — to win every match of an overseas series consisting of at least three Tests.
Senior players including Stuart Broad get fully involved in the chanting as they relaxed.
‘It’s been a fabulous tour from start to finish,’ said Root, who celebrated by leading a dressing-room sing-song on the guitar.
‘I’m very proud of everything we’ve achieved and the manner we’ve done it in.
'The way we’ve played has been exceptional and a great motivator to keep looking to get better and drive each other on.’
England, who have risen to No 2 in the world rankings, take on the West Indies next in a three-Test series in the Caribbean starting in January.
Root knows expectation levels will rise ahead of that tour following his first away series win since taking over the Test captaincy from Alastair Cook last year.
He said: ‘As we grow as a team we’ll have different challenges and if we continue to keep getting better that’s the different pressure we’ll have to handle whenever it comes along.
‘It’s about being adaptable and we’ve shown we can do that here, shown we are not a one-trick pony in our own conditions anymore and that should fill us with a huge amount of confidence going into future tours.’
This was a real team effort from England but also a personal triumph for Jack Leach, whose 18 wickets in the series made him England’s most prolific bowler alongside Moeen Ali.
But it was the Somerset spinner’s run out of Kusal Mendis that broke a 102-run stand for Sri Lanka’s sixth wicket which proved the spark for England’s victory charge on this final day.
Leach’s athleticism and lightening reactions summed up England’s excellence in the field during this series and Root believes the rest of the team have taken their cue from Ben Stokes.
The all-rounder has nine catches and two run outs to his name over the course of these three Tests and he turned the final one with a brilliant three-wicket spell on the second day that saw Sri Lanka collapse from 173 for one to 240 all out in their second innings.
‘We all know that at any stage he can turn a game on his own,' said Root.
'He always gives absolutely everything and he’ll never shy away from any challenge put in front of him. With bat and ball throughout the last couple of games, he’s adapted to different roles.
'He’s a complete team man and sets a brilliant example to the rest of the group and is a great leader within that dressing room.’
It was Ben Foakes, though, who was named man of the series.
The Surrey wicketkeeper was only called up as late injury cover for Jonny Bairstow but scored a century on his debut in the First Test at Galle and ended a series where he was faultless behind the stumps as the leading runscorer with 277.
‘It was amazing,’ said Foakes. ‘It’s been a crazy few weeks and really good fun. I’m just going with the flow really.
'I’m here for the ride. I’d like to be here for longer but we’ll see what happens.’ - Daily Mail Online
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