JACK Leach made the breakthrough for England and then claimed another two wickets as the tourists beat Sri Lanka by 211 runs to claim their first overseas Test win in more than two years.
Chasing 462 to win, Sri Lanka resumed on 15-0 in Galle and progressed to 51 without loss – at which point Leach had Kaushal Silva (30) trapped lbw.
KAUSHAL FALLS LBW!
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) November 9, 2018
Leach gets England's first wicket of the day, trapping the opener in front for 30 - Kaushal reviewing in vain. SL 51-1
Watch #SLvENG here 👉 https://t.co/AgoUHQhoGw
Over-by-over blog 👉 https://t.co/seYIAsg1Lp https://t.co/hEWm18NEfn
Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes claimed a wicket apiece as the hosts fell to 98-3, but Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews staged a recovery.
They had reached 144 when Leach made another vital intervention, having Kusal Mendis (45) caught by Moeen.
That was followed by a terrific delivery from the Somerset spinner, pitching outside leg stump from round the wicket, with plenty of turn to clean bowl Dinesh Chandimal (1).
Check out this magic delivery from Jack Leach!! 👊💫#WeAreSomerset #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/Sb0oMkHtCv
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) November 9, 2018
Mathews reached his half-century and Sri Lanka made it to tea without further loss, but then Moeen struck again after the interval, removing Niroshan Dickwella (16) and then having Mathews (53) caught by Jos Buttler, leaving the home side on 197-7.
Leach's fellow spinners, Moeen and Adil Rashid, continued to dominate – taking a wicket apiece to reduce their hosts to 239-9 – before Rangana Herath (in his last ever Test) was run out by Stokes.
That meant Sri Lanka were all out for 250, handing England victory by 211 runs, and their first overseas Test win since October 2016.
Leach ended with figures of 3-60 from 21 overs, making him more economical than Moeen (4-71 from 20) and Rashid (1-59 from 18.1).
The Somerset man will hope to have done enough to remain in the team, even if Jonny Bairstow returns after injury, for the second Test in Pallekele (November 14-18).
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