England finally get over their travel sickness and take control in Galle

SAM MORSHEAD: The home side were reminded how to play their own game, in their own back yard, by a team who have run into more travel problems than Phileas Fogg these past two years

Galle (second day of five): England 342 & 38-0, Sri Lanka 203 - England lead by 177 runs with 10 second-innings wickets remaining

Welcome back, England, where have you been all this time?

It’s taken a while but Joe Root’s team have, finally, found an effective formula for a Test match abroad.

By the end of day two, the visitors - winless on foreign soil since 2016 - found themselves in absolute control against a Sri Lanka side which, while far from its past glories, remains a major threat on home pitches. Just ask South Africa.

Set up by Ben Foakes’ wonderful debut century, a first-innings total of 342 looked strong. It turned out to be made of steel.

In the heat and humidity of Galle, England’s three-pronged spin attack kept its collective cool and left the tourists on the verge of a convincing victory.

^{Ben Foakes celebrates his century}

No doubt with the sage advice of Saqlain Mushtaq rumbling through their minds, England’s spinners set about the task with guile and craft.

Jack Leach was agonisingly accurate - it took Sri Lanka 83 balls to find a boundary off the Somerset spinner - while Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid found substantial turn.

The home side were reminded how to play their own game, in their own back yard, by a team who have run into more travel problems than Phileas Fogg these past two years.

Only Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal, batting on one leg thanks to his groin strain, provided resistance as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 203, before England's openers saw out the day.

This Test is only heading in one direction.

Earlier, any question marks over Foakes’ ability to start his innings afresh were dispelled from the first ball of the morning, a loopy half-volley from Dilruwan Perera which he drove heartily to the extra cover boundary.

England’s No.7 made it 95 before losing Leach, caught at slip to give Perera his fifth wicket of the game, but Jimmy Anderson stuck around long enough to see the Surrey man to three figures.

A famous century came with a punched drive off the back foot down the ground, perhaps the best shot of his innings, and Sri Lanka only got their man when Foakes turned his mind to fast runs.

^{Adil Rashid was among the wickets}

As he jogged off to swap one pair of pads for another, the 25-year-old could be mighty proud of his achievement - the second England wicketkeeper to hit a century on Test debut after Matt Prior, only the fifth gloveman in Test history to do so and the first English keeper to make a hundred in the format in Asia.

Not that he had time to dwell on his effort. From just the second ball of the Sri Lanka innings, Foakes was claiming his first international catch.

Karunaratne was the unwitting batsman, pushing at a rising Anderson delivery.

The hosts were two down not long after. Sam Curran found late swing back into the right-handed Kaushal Silva and rapped the opener on the pad right in front of all three stumps.

Jack Leach’s testing lines and lengths proved too much for Kusal Mendis, who got a thick edge to the Somerset left-armer’s biggest-turning delivery of the morning and saw Stokes snaffle the catch at slip, while Dhananjaya de Silva produced a mindless sweep 10 minutes before lunch and found his middle stump knocked back by Moeen Ali.

Sri Lanka were in danger of a very dismal capitulation but, in the shape of their two most trustworthy batsmen, did at least manage a slight recovery.

Dinesh Chandimal, unable to take on the quick single given the groin strain he sustained in the field on Tuesday, put on 75 with Angelo Mathews to give the home side hope but when he shimmied down the wicket to Adil Rashid and missed, Foakes was on hand to take off the bails and leave Sri Lanka 115 for five.

^{Jimmy Anderson struck early}

It was a poetic moment of cricket from England - a floating, teasing leg break from Rashid, the perfect grab-and-move from Foakes.

Mathews made it to tea unscathed - the same could not be said of Rory Burns, who took a nasty blow to the back of the neck at short leg just before the break and did not immediately return after the interval - but he perished from the first ball of the final session.

Moeen dragged the former captain forward and an inside edge looped up to Keaton Jennings.

Niroshan Dickwella provided the evening entertainment with a quickfire 28 but when he was tempted into an aerial drive by Moeen, and the chance guzzled by a diving Buttler at cover, the end was nigh.

Akila Danajaya was victim to a terrific off-break from Moeen and a fine grab by Foakes, Perera slapped Leach to Buttler at extra cover and, after a late salvo, Suranga Lakmal sliced Rashid to Anderson at point.

England led by 139 on first innings. By the end of the day the lead was 177, with Burns unbeaten on 11 and Jennings 26 not out.

The highest fourth-innings total ever made at Galle is 300, the highest successful run chase not even in triple figures.

Surely... surely, the barren run is soon to end.