Eighteen wickets fell on the second day, the most at this ground since 1914
Kumar Sangakkara blasted a career-best 169 to help Sri Lanka crush South Africa by a huge margin of 180 runs in the first One-Day International, in Colombo, on Saturday.
South Africa remained on course for victory at the close at Kingsmead on Friday.
Sri Lanka needed a little over 26 overs to chase down a 153-run victory target for a series-levelling seven-wicket victory in the second Test against Pakistan on Monday.
Root said that spinning tracks will throw challenges to the visiting team but they are adapting to the conditions quickly.
The visitors never got going as spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (4/67) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/56) along with comeback-man Ishant Sharma (3/37) shared the spoils.
With just one win, Sri Lanka are currently at the sixth spot with four points and will have to win rest of their four matches to stay in contention for the semi-final.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson fell agonisingly short of centuries but New Zealand's imposing total ensured they beat Sri Lanka by 120 runs in the sixth One-day international on Sunday to take an unassailable 4-1 lead in their seven-match series.
Tillikaratane Dilshan eased to his 19th One-day International century to anchor his side to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second game of their seven-match series at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Thursday.
Sri Lanka have not played a match at the World Cup since June 4, forced to split points with Bangladesh and Pakistan following two washed out games.
As India take on Sri Lanka in a three Test series, Rajneesh Gupta presents all the numbers.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club World Cricket Committee, will skip its upcoming meeting at Lord's on August 11-12.
Factbox on World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at Hagley Oval.
Sri Lanka have dropped Test spinners Rangana Herath and Tharindu Kaushal from their One-day squad for the five-match series against Pakistan starting on Saturday.
"It was tough up front, the Sri Lanka bowlers didn't give us much to work with," Markram told reporters.
Vishwa Fernando bagged four wickets as Sri Lanka took the honours on day one of the first Test against South Africa by reducing their hosts to 235 all out at Kingsmead on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka need to win their final two games, and hope for favourable outcomes in England and Pakistan's next fixtures.
Marlon Samuels' unbeaten century proved in vain as Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 19 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method to complete a 3-0 one-day series whitewash on Saturday.
A century opening stand between Abid Ali and Fakhar Zaman guided Pakistan to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the third and final One-Day International in Karachi on Wednesday. The victory enabled the hosts clinch the series 2-0.
The turning point of the match has Kumar Sangakkara's wicket.
Here is a factbox on the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka beginning at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday:
Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro hit unbeaten half-centuries as New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in their World Cup opener in Cardiff on Saturday.
Mahela Jayawardene scored four streaky runs in his last Test, as Pakistan's bowlers dismantled Sri Lanka's first innings on the opening day of the second and final match, in Colombo, on Thursday.
Sri Lanka crushed Afghanistan by 68 runs to win the gold medal in the men's Twenty20 cricket event at the Asian Games on Friday.
Sri Lanka Cricket's selection committee chairman Aravinda de Silva stood by his panel and took full responsibility for making last-minute changes to the team for the ICC World Twenty20. "All decisions were taken in the best interest of the team and we take responsibility," de Silva, the hero of Sri Lanka's 1996 World Cup win, said. He replaced the committee headed by Kapila Wijegoonawardana. Wijegoonawardana's committee was sacked by the Sports Ministry just a few days before the team departed. De Silva's committee, which also included Kumar Sangakkara, made changes to the squad picked by the previous committee. Sri Lanka fared poorly and failed to make it to the semifinals in a woeful defence of their title won in 2014.
India have not lost a series at home since the defeat to South Africa in October 2015.
Martin Guptill flirted with a world record then had to settle for a New Zealand one as he demolished Sri Lanka's bowling to guide his side to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory in the second One-Day International in Christchurch on Monday.
Experienced batsman Mahela Jayawardene and left-arm spinner Rangana Herath will return for Sri Lanka's three-Test series against Pakistan in UAE after skipping the ongoing one-day conTests due to personal reasons.
Sri Lanka veterans Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara smashed imperious centuries to punish a wasteful Bangladesh.
Statistical highlights from the third day's play of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka.
India goes into the third and final Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday hoping to register their first series victory in the island nation in 22 years.
Usman Khawaja found his scoring touch and fast bowler Mitchell Starc returned to his fiery best as Australia moved within sight of victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Manuka Oval on Sunday.
Opener Dimuth Karunaratne missed out on a maiden double hundred but his 238-run stand with fellow centurion Dinesh Chandimal set up Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 484 on day two against West Indies in the opening test at Galle on Thursday.
A dominant Sri Lanka made it to the final of the ICC World T20 for the third time, knocking out defending champions the West Indies by 27 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method after thundershowers stopped proceedings in the 14th over of the second innings.
We have two top performers from Thursday's match. It is the bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma.
Pakistan survived a late order scare from Sri Lanka to pull off an exciting 11-run win in the first one-day international, to go 1-0 up in the five-match series in Sharjah.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews weathered a fiery spell of reverse swing bowling from Dayle Steyn to take his team past the follow-on mark on the third day of the first Test against South Africa on Friday.
Chris Jordan claimed five wickets as England bowled Sri Lanka out for 67 runs, their third lowest total in one-day internationals, to help win the third ODI with a resounding 10-wicket victory on Wednesday.
Thisara admitted his side were far from perfect after another batting disaster, he insisted they always knew they had a chance of success if their bowlers stepped up.
IMAGES from Day 1 of the 1st Test between Australia and Sri Lanka on Thursday
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