Sri Lanka’s Michael Vandort lauds Andrew Flintoff after England’s win in Birmingham on Sunday. (Reuters)

Birmingham: England edged to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second Test on Sunday, reaching their modest target after lunch on the fourth day. The home side, set 78 after bowling Sri Lanka out for 231 in their second innings, scored 81 for the loss of four wickets, all taken by off-spinner Muttiah Muralidharan, to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.

Muralidharan finished with 10 wickets in all, taking four for 29 in England’s nervous run chase to follow his six for 86 in the first innings. It was the 15th occasion he had taken 10 wickets in Tests.

His teammate Michael Vandort earlier scored 105 but there was not enough support to set England a tougher run-chase and the last five wickets clattered for 12 runs in 33 balls.

However, Muralidharan struck some psychological blows before Friday’s third and final Test with the dismissals of top order batsmen Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood. Trescothick was leg before for nought after he misjudged a doosra from Muralidharan’s fourth delivery and the 10th of the innings.

Strauss looked unhappy when umpire Aleem Dar judged that he had got a deflection from his bat onto pad and was given out caught at slip for 16.

Pietersen, the first innings hero with his 142 from 157 deliveries, was leg before to Muralidharan’s doosra for the second time in the match. Collingwood edged to the wicketkeeper for three.

Left-hander Alastair Cook, with an average of 68 from three Tests before this match, was 34 not out and skipper Andrew Flintoff hit Muralidharan for a straight driven boundary to win the match and finish on four.

On Sunday morning, the introduction of the new ball changed the tone of the game after England toiled for 14 overs without a breakthrough. Pacer Liam Plunkett finished with three for 17 in the innings and six for 60 in the match.

“He’s still doing the job for us,” Jayawardene said after the match. “Whenever he’s been thrown a challenge he wants to rise up to that occasion, especially with the young bowling attack. “If we can give him some more help he'll definitely be much more dangerous. He’s bowling with a lot of heart and character and he wants to improve, which is excellent.”