ENG vs SL: The English have entered another major series in the longest format of the game, as they host Sri Lanka for the first time at Old Trafford. The pacers broke the back of Sri Lanka’s attack as Woakes and young Atkinson helped England get major breakthroughs early on in the innings.
England were pushed to bowl first as the Lankans came in to bat. Experienced campaigner Woakes, alongside England’s Player of the Month by the ICC, Gus Atkinson, took command of the new ball and helped their team with breakthroughs.
The openers were sent off early, while Kusal Mendis was also sent off after a brief start with a stellar pace delivery that almost took an eye off the batter. He edged the fast-traveling delivery to the vice captain Brook in the slips.
On the other hand, experienced campaigners for the Lankan side, Mathews and Chandimal, both went early as the former struggled to score a duck.
The skipper stood firm down the order as Dhananjaya de Silva, Sri Lanka’s new skipper, topped his batting effort with a fine 74 off just 84 balls. While Rathnayake came in at no. 9 to score a fine half-century, which led Sri Lanka to a respectable total in their first inning as they went past a 200-run total.
While writing the article, Sri Lanka’s captain fell to Bashir, England’s only spinner in the side, while the no. 9 has scored a century with the team total at 204/8.
