Cook reaches milestone as England win to clinch series

DURHAM: Alastair Cook became the first Englishman to reach 10,000 test runs before leading his team to an emphatic nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second test on Monday to wrap up the series.

Cook scored 47 not out as England eased to their target of 79 after Dinesh Chandimal made a fine century to lift Sri Lanka to 475 in their second innings on the fourth day.

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Having been bowled out for 101 first time round, however, the tourists only delayed the inevitable and England took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series with a day to spare.

"It's a very special moment for me, but the game is not about personal milestones, it's about winning games and scoring runs to do that," Cook said.

"But it's a real special day and it's great that my family are here to see me do it."

Hales was bowled by spinner Siriwardana for 11 but Cook calmly completed the job with Nick Compton, who finished unbeaten on 22 as he battles to retain his place at number three in the order.

"Broad and Anderson are world-class bowlers and you've got to show a lot of skill to handle them," Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said.

"It's just the Sri Lankan fight that we've lost in the past couple of weeks and we're looking to bring back. There were lots of positives in the last couple of days, Chandimal and Herath showed a lot of character."

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