Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir each claimed three wickets as England finished day one of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford in a strong position, despite a lower-order resistance from Sri Lanka that helped them reach 236 all out.
Woakes (3-32), Bashir (3-55), and Gus Atkinson (2-48) made crucial breakthroughs early on as Sri Lanka slumped to 92-6 after opting to bat first, struggling to handle the disciplined bowling from the England attack.
In Ollie Pope’s debut as England’s stand-in captain, he showed his leadership skills as his bowlers led the way in challenging conditions, following the ethos set by the injured Ben Stokes to put their team in control.
Despite a mix of experience and youth in the Sri Lankan team trying to rebuild from a tough start, Dhananjaya de Silva stood out with a captain’s innings of 76 runs from 84 balls, and Milan Rathnayake (72) had a memorable debut to help bring their team back into the game.
England encountered spin as they started their first innings, but bad light halted play after just four overs, with England ending the day at 22-0, in a strong position.
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England strike early as Sri Lanka blend youth and experience
Sri Lanka made a poor start after choosing to bat, with Woakes taking two wickets in a maiden over and Atkinson getting a wicket as well, leaving them at 6-3 after seven overs – Nishan Madushka (4), Dimuth Karunaratne (2), and Angelo Mathews (0) falling early.
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Kusal Mendis (24) started Sri Lanka’s recovery, but Mark Wood (1-31) dismissed him quickly, with Sri Lanka reaching fifty, only to lose four more wickets in a short span of 17.2 overs.
