England faced Sri Lanka in the first Test match at Old Trafford, where the tourists won the toss and chose to bat first. However, they struggled in the initial overs, losing three wickets for just six runs. Despite the early setbacks, Sri Lanka’s captain, Dhananjaya de Silva, led the recovery with a solid innings of 74 runs. England’s bowling attack, led by Chris Woakes who took 3-32, dominated the visitors and restricted them to 236 all out.
England’s response with the bat saw them at 22 for no loss at the close of play, with Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence holding the fort. Bad light stopped play before the end of the day’s play, leaving England trailing Sri Lanka by 214 runs. The English team was satisfied with their performance on day one, especially considering the challenging test conditions.
The opening session of the match saw England’s seam bowlers taking advantage of the hard pitch and picking up early wickets, reducing Sri Lanka to 80-5 at lunch. Dhananjaya de Silva, however, provided resistance and steadied the innings with a brisk innings, scoring at nearly a run a ball at one stage. His partnership with Test debutant Milan Rathnayake frustrated the English bowlers as they added valuable runs for Sri Lanka.
Despite De Silva’s efforts, he was dismissed just before tea, caught at leg slip off Shoaib Bashir’s bowling. The final session of play saw bad light forcing England to bowl only their spinners, with Joe Root also coming into the attack. Rathnayake continued to trouble the bowlers, compiling a well-made 72 runs before being dismissed. Sri Lanka’s innings came to an end when Vishwa Fernando was run out due to a miscommunication with Asitha Fernando.
Chris Woakes, reflecting on England’s performance, expressed satisfaction with their bowling effort but acknowledged that bad light prevented them from wrapping up Sri Lanka’s innings quickly. The day’s play ended with England looking to bowl out Sri Lanka early on day two to gain an advantage in the first Test match. Earlier in the day, Dimuth Karunaratne was dismissed early on, with Woakes picking up crucial wickets to put England in a strong position.
The match also paid tribute to former England batsman and coach Graham Thorpe, who passed away recently. The cricketing community mourned the loss of a legendary figure in the sport, which added a somber note to the day’s proceedings. As the first Test match between England and Sri Lanka continues, both teams will be looking to assert their dominance and gain an early advantage in the series. With exciting cricket action unfolding at Old Trafford, fans can expect a closely contested battle between two talented teams.
