England end away drought

England claimed their first away Test victory in 13 matches on Friday with a commanding 211-run win against Sri Lanka in Galle, with Moeen Ali claiming his second four-wicket haul of the game.

Last out was silver fox Rangana Herath, cricket's most successful left-arm spinner in his swansong before retirement, run out for five.

The hosts, chasing a notional 462 victory in the first match of a three-Test series, could only muster 250 on day four, with Jack Leach taking three wickets to go with Ali's four, with Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes getting one each.

England had secured a first-innings lead of 139 thanks to a century on debut by Ben Foakes -- player of the match -- and a formidable spin attack led by Ali and assisted ably by Leach and Rashid restricting Sri Lanka to 203.

In England's second innings an assured unbeaten 146 by Keaton Jennings, his first century since a ton on his 2016 debut that has silenced his critics for now at least, allowed Root to declare at 322 for six.

"Our batting was below-par during the game, you can't stay in the game (with this kind of batting)," Sri Lanka's captain Dinesh Chandimal said.

SCORES IN BRIEF

ENGLAND: First innings 342

SRI LANKA: First innings 203

ENGLAND: Second innings 322 for 6 decl

SRI LANKA: Second innings 250 (Karunaratne 26, Silva 30, Mendis 45, Matthews 53, Perera 30; Moeen 4-71, Leach 3-60)

Result: England won by 211 runs and lead the 3-match series 1-0.

Player-of-the-match: Ben Foakes.