GALLE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – Dom Sibley scored an unbeaten half- century as England chased down a target of 164 to secure a sweep of the series on Monday, beating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the second Test on a day of drama at Galle International Stadium.

England scored 164-4, with Sibley 56 not out and Jos Buttler unbeaten on 46 as they overcame jittery moments to complete a 2-0 series triumph.

The tourists overturned a 37-run deficit after the first innings to win a sixth successive Test in Sri Lanka. England earlier dismissed Sri Lanka for 126 in their second innings, giving themselves a confidence boost ahead of next month’s start of a four-test series in India.

England’s run chase began nervously as they lost their first four wickets for 89 runs, including a tired-looking Joe Root, with Sri Lanka’s dangerous spinner Lasith Embuldeniya threatening with the new ball and taking three wickets for a match tally of 10.

But an unbeaten 75-run partnership between Sibley, who had previous failed with the bat on tour, and Buttler carried England home as they showed the application their hosts lacked in their batting.

“I was pleased to be able to spend time at the crease and get the boys over the line,” said Sibley.

Sri Lanka must learn to bat like Joe Root, says skipper after loss to England

England, who added only five runs to their overnight tally before being dismissed for 344, took just over a session to turn the match on its head as Dom Bess and spin partner Jack Leach claimed four wickets each in Sri Lanka’s second innings.

Bess took 4-49 and Leach 4-59 as the home batting line-up was undone by the turn of the wicket and rash shots. It included a wild sweep from veteran Angelo Mathews as he was bowled by Bess for five, and a slog that was top-edged by captain Dinesh Chandimal (9) and expertly caught by James Anderson off Leach.

“There are no excuses from us, we made mistakes and we were outplayed,” Chandimal said.

Embuldeniya, with a quickfire 40 off 42 balls, was the only home batsmen to make more than 20 and his 48-run ninth wicket partnership with Suranga Lakmal helped set England a tougher target.

But he was eventually dismissed off the part-time bowling of Root, who claimed another wicket with his next ball by bowling Asitha Ferando to wrap up the innings. Root finished with figures of 2-0 off 11 balls.

“It was great to come out on top after losing the toss on a wicket that had us under pressure for much of the match,” said the England captain.

England won last week’s first Test by seven wickets in a victorious start to a year in which they will play 17 Test matches.

SRI LANKA 1st innings 381
England 1st innings
Zak Crawley c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 5
Dominic Sibley lbw Lasith Embuldeniya 0
Jonny Bairstow c Oshada Fernando b Lasith Embuldeniya 28
Joe Root Run Out Oshada Fernando 186
Dan Lawrence c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 3
Jos Buttler c Oshada Fernando b Ramesh Mendis 55
Sam Curran c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 13
Dom Bess c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 32
Mark Wood c Lahiru Thirimanne b Lasith Embuldeniya 1
Jack Leach lbw Dilruwan Perera 1
James Anderson Not Out 4
Extras 8b 3lb 5nb 0pen 0w 16
Total (116.1 overs) 344 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-4 Sibley, 2-5 Crawley, 3-116 Bairstow, 4-132 Lawrence, 5-229 Buttler, 6-252 Curran, 7-333 Bess, 8-337 Wood, 9-339 Root, 10-344 Leach
Bowling : Suranga Lakmal 16 – 7 – 31- 0, Lasith Embuldeniya 42 – 6 -137 – 7 (4nb),
Asitha Fernando 10 – 2 – 31 – 0, Dilruwan Perera 32.1 – 4 – 86 – 1 (1nb),
Ramesh Mendis 16 – 1 – 48 – 1.

SRI LANKA 2nd innings
Kusal Perera lbw Jack Leach 14
Lahiru Thirimanne c Zak Crawley b Jack Leach 13
Oshada Fernando c Zak Crawley b Dom Bess 3
Angelo Mathews b Dom Bess 5
Dinesh Chandimal c James Anderson b Jack Leach 9
Niroshan Dickwella c Dan Lawrence b Dom Bess 7
Ramesh Mendis c Jos Buttler b Jack Leach 16
Dilruwan Perera c Zak Crawley b Dom Bess 4
Suranga Lakmal Not Out 11
Lasith Embuldeniya c Jonny Bairstow b Joe Root 40
Asitha Fernando b Joe Root 0
Extras 3b 0lb 1nb 0pen 0w 4
Total (35.5 overs) 126 all out
Fall of Wickets : 1-19 Perera, 2-29 Fernando, 3-37 Thirimanne, 4-37 Mathews, 5-47 Chandimal, 6-66 Dickwella, 7-70 Perera, 8-78 Wanigamuni, 9-126 Embuldeniya, 10-126 Fernando
Bowling : James Anderson 2 – 0 – 6 – 0, Sam Curran 2 – 0 – 9 – 0,
Dom Bess 16 – 1 – 49 – 4, Jack Leach 14 – 1 – 59 – 4 (1nb)

ENGLAND 2nd innings
Zak Crawley c Oshada Fernando b Lasith Embuldeniya 13
Dominic Sibley Not Out 56
Jonny Bairstow lbw Lasith Embuldeniya 29
Joe Root b Ramesh Mendis 11
Dan Lawrence c Niroshan Dickwella b Lasith Embuldeniya 2
Jos Buttler Not Out 46
Extras 0b 4lb 3nb 0pen 0w 7
Total (43.3 overs) 164-4
Fall of Wickets : 1-17 Crawley, 2-62 Bairstow, 3-84 Root, 4-89 Lawrence
Did Not Bat : Curran, Bess, Leach, Wood, Anderson

Bowling : Lasith Embuldeniya 20 – 3 – 73 – 3 (2nb),
Dilruwan Perera 13.3 – 1 – 39 – 0 (1nb), Ramesh Mendis 10 – 0 – 48 – 1.