Twitter Reactions: England survive a mighty scare before sealing a historic whitewash

Sri Lanka were four wickets down at the end of the third day and with more than 270 runs required to win, it was only a matter of time. But they have got used to fight it out when the fans expect least from them and the same happened in Colombo. After Kusal Mendis and Roshen Silva, it was the last-wicket pair of Malinda Pushpakumara and the skipper Suranga Lakmal.

The duo came together when Sri Lanka were down and out on 226/9 and still needed 101 runs to avoid the whitewash at home. But Pushpakumara and Lakmal put on an inspired stand to keep England at bay. The former had some fun attacking the spinners and connected a few. Luck also played its part but some quick runs left the visitors frustrated. Joe Root‘s smile turned into tense in no time even as the extra half an hour before Tea also came to an end.

Sri Lanka were still 43 runs adrift of an unlikely victory while the Brits knew they had a game on their hands when the second session ended. However, Jack Leach, on resumption, got the better of the opposition captain Lakmal by pinning him in front of the stumps as the island nation got bowled out for 284 runs. For the second time in two years, they were cleanswept at home and their losses are getting more embarrassing with every passing game.

Earlier in the day

In the morning though when the loss looked inevitable for Sri Lanka, Lakshan Sandakan showed some spirit to hang around for a considerable period of time. Kusal Mendis finally lived up to the expectations as he unfurled some of the exquisite cricketing shots in his kitty. Soon he also crossed the 50-run mark and sent a message in the opposition camp that Sri Lanka weren’t going to throw the kitchen sink.

Sandakan’s wicket never really made the difference as Roshen Silva joined Mendis in the middle to put on a three-figure partnership. At 184/5, the chase looked like happening. But at the same time, Mendis went for an inexplicable second run and Jack Leach fired in a bullet throw from the deep to directly hit the stumps.

The wickets continued to fall since then as all the recognised batsmen were dismissed before bringing the target below the 100-run mark. Though the last-wicket pair tried hard in the end, it was always going to be a tall ask for them. The trio of England spinners have trumped Sri Lanka this time on turning dust bowls as a total of 100 wickets out of 116 were picked by the spinners in the series.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the innings:

Great achievement @root66 .. 3-0 Whitewash in the Sub continent is a fantastic effort ! The best thing for me was every single player contributed at some stage .. a real TEAM effort .. #WellDone

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 26, 2018

Some very interesting Test Cricket going on. SL’s last wicket fighting it out now needing 43 more after the last wicket has put on 58.
And NZ losing 10 wickets in 14 overs courtesy an outstanding spell from Yasir Shah

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) November 26, 2018

So proud of Ben Foakes being the leading run scorer in this Test Series vs Sri Lanka!! Averaging 76 in Test Cricket too! #SLvEng pic.twitter.com/SABhOGHmip

— James (@Surreycricfan) November 26, 2018

Brilliant conception & execution from all concerned @englandcricket #SLvENG

— mark butcher (@markbutcher72) November 26, 2018

@surreycricket is on fire here!
last series Sam Curran and this series it's Ben Foakes, the man of the series!#SLvENG #ENGvIND

— Dhairya Joshi (@dhairya257) November 26, 2018

And Eng ❤ win 3-0 🏆 against Sl in SL. Complete whitewash. First time happened in this decade I guess so. #SLvENG

— Amol Khamkar (@amolkhamkar19) November 26, 2018

You just feel watching this @englandcricket team is never going to be boring! #SLvENG

— Menorca Smyclist (@julian_hagger) November 26, 2018

That was a really engaging and competitive series. Sri Lanka may not be the force they once were, but in foreign conditions, England were mightily impressive. This now feels like Joe Root’s team – onwards and upwards #SLvEng #bbccricket

— Rob Meech (@RobMeech) November 26, 2018

What a fine effort from the England team to clean sweep Sri Lanka in latter's home conditions as we seldom see a touring team doing the same. A fine collective team effort from the English team. #SLvENG

— Gautam chauhan (@Gautamchauhan2) November 26, 2018

Didn't see much of the Tests but were England just too good or Sri Lanka poor? #SLvENG

— Kanishkaa Balachandran (@kanishkaab) November 26, 2018

England White Washed SL in Sri Lanka, Great achievement for English cricket after their previous performances in Asia.. #SLvENG

— Usman Khattak (@UsmanKhattak01) November 26, 2018

This Sri Lanka team is probably the weakest SL team of my lifetime. BUT you can only beat what’s in front of you and that’s a very good series win from us! #SLvENG

— Mihir Haria-Shah (@MihirHS215) November 26, 2018

well done @englandcricket and @root66…..winning 3-0 in the subcontinent is some achievement …… Hope this is the start of a teams where they can win away from home #SLvENG

— Ganesh sobanapuram (@imGANESH25) November 26, 2018

Amazing achievement @englandcricket 3-0 is a brilliant result. 💯 wickets for spinners in the series tells a story. Well batted and well bowled. All 11 contributed. Well done Sri Lanka for the fight today also. #SLvENG

— Rehana Younis (@rk_younis) November 26, 2018

Once upon a time, Sri Lanka was lion in their surface but now England show their character to beat Sri Lanka in their (SL) backwards. Series: 3-0#SLvENG

— Md Rasel (@Md_Rasel306) November 26, 2018

Phew. I was getting a bit nervy there. #SLvEng

— Steve Barton (@SteveEcho) November 26, 2018

Deserved Man of the Series, Ben Foakes!

— Kunal Tolani 🏏⚡ (@Kunal_jt) November 26, 2018

Player of the series On his debut wow …. Ben foakes 😍 #SLvENG

— 💤 (@Cskian_nikie) November 26, 2018