DAY 1 REPORT

Curran’s destructive knock, which featured six sixes, saw him enjoy a substantial partnership of 60 with last man James Anderson as England posted 285 in their first innings.

The Surrey all-rounder was able to take much of the strike thanks in part to the field placings of Sri Lanka captain Suranga Lakmal.

The difference of +5 between the number of sixes (6) and the number of fours (1) Sam Curran hit in his innings today is the joint-largest in Test history.

Tim Southee’s 77* off 40 balls on Test debut (4 fours, 9 sixes) is the other joint-record holder.#SLvENG #SRIvENG pic.twitter.com/5EpjvXG0of

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 14, 2018

“I gave myself a chance to take a few balls up top. They weren’t bringing in the field,” said the 20-year old.

Curran’s innings followed an equally important performance from Jos Buttler, whose tactics against Sri Lanka’s spin threat proved more than effective in a counter-punching 63 from just 67 deliveries.

“Jos came in and played the way we know he can do: sweeping, reverse sweeping, running down,” said Curran.

“They looked like they started to panic a little bit almost. It got to the stage after lunch he was almost reverse-sweeping or or sweeping every ball, with the field all over the place.”

After England battled their way into a dominant position at the end of day one, @Ben_Wisden and @Yas_Wisden talk about Sam Curran’s brilliance, England’s tactics, THAT Jack Leach ball and the nature of the wicket in Pallekele.#SRIvENG #SLvENG pic.twitter.com/0G3b8iezQu

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 14, 2018

Curran also praised his other batting partners, with Adil Rashid contributing 31 alongside Anderson’s patient rearguard.

[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]”Rash [Adil Rashid] played beautifully before tea and I tried to take over where he left off.

“But me and Jimmy had quite a bit of fun out there. He was probably the one telling me to calm down and trust him. It was real good fun out there.”

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