Half-centuries from Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis helped Sri Lanka take lead at Old Trafford in the opening Test against England.
England resumed their first innings on Day 3 at 259/6 and they managed to add 99 runs to their overnight score with Jamie Smith notching up his maiden ton in Test cricket.
His 66-run stand with Gus Atkinson for the 7th wicket helped the hosts steer into a position of ascendancy with a valuable first innings lead of 122.
Asitha Fernando was Sri Lanka’s best bowler on show as he grabbed 4 wickets for 103 runs. The left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya also bagged 3 wickets for 85 runs while Milan Rathnayake claimed his maiden Test wicket in the form of Atkinson.
Sri Lankan batters had to face three overs just before the Lunch break which England’s new ball bowlers capitalized to the full extent, claiming 2 wickets – Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis which allowed the hosts to gain complete control of the steering wheel.
The opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne and the experienced middle order batter Angelo Mathews steadied the innings, adding 51-run stand for the third wicket before Mark Wood dismissed the former for 27 runs.
- De Silva, Rathnayake fifties revive Sri Lanka after top-order collapse
- Half-centuries from Brook and Smith put England into lead
Wood bowled a nasty delivery that smashed into Dinesh Chandimal’s thumb and the wicket-keeper batter had to walk off the field and went to the hospital for scans.
The skipper Dhananjaya de Silva was trapped in front by the seamer Matthew Potts for 11 runs at the stroke of Tea break.
In the final session, Angelo Mathews and Kamindu Mendis put up an inspired fight, getting involved in a 78-run stand which helped the visitors build a slender lead at the end of Day 3.
Mathews notched up his 42nd half-century in Tests while Mendis hit his 3rd Test half-century. Mendis was unbeaten on 56 while Chandimal was unbeaten on 20 having returned to bat from the hospital after Wood flattened his right thumb.
Stumps
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | c Joe Root b Chris Woakes | 4 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Jamie Smith b Gus Atkinson | 2 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 11.11 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Harry Brook b Mark Wood | 24 | 34 | 4 | 0 | 70.59 |
| Angelo Mathews | lbw b Chris Woakes | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | lbw b Shoaib Bashir | 17 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 42.50 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Dan Lawrence b Shoaib Bashir | 74 | 84 | 8 | 0 | 88.10 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Jamie Smith b Chris Woakes | 12 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 48.00 |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | c Jamie Smith b Gus Atkinson | 10 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Milan Rathnayake | c Chris Woakes b Shoaib Bashir | 72 | 135 | 6 | 2 | 53.33 |
| Vishwa Fernando | run out (Ollie Pope) | 13 | 62 | 2 | 0 | 20.97 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 1, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 236/10 (74 Overs, RR: 3.19) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Woakes | 11 | 3 | 32 | 3 | 2.91 | |
| Gus Atkinson | 16 | 3 | 48 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Matthew Potts | 9 | 0 | 48 | 0 | 5.33 | |
| Mark Wood | 8 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 3.88 | |
| Shoaib Bashir | 23 | 4 | 55 | 3 | 2.39 | |
| Joe Root | 7 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 2.57 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Duckett | lbw b Asitha Fernando | 18 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 90.00 |
| Dan Lawrence | c Dinesh Chandimal b Vishwa Fernando | 30 | 39 | 3 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Ollie Pope | b Asitha Fernando | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 75.00 |
| Joe Root | c Dinesh Chandimal b Asitha Fernando | 42 | 57 | 4 | 0 | 73.68 |
| Harry Brook | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 56 | 73 | 4 | 0 | 76.71 |
| Jamie Smith | c & b | 111 | 148 | 8 | 1 | 75.00 |
| Chris Woakes | b Prabath Jayasuriya | 25 | 65 | 3 | 0 | 38.46 |
| Gus Atkinson | c Dinesh Chandimal b Milan Rathnayake | 20 | 65 | 1 | 0 | 30.77 |
| Matthew Potts | c Kusal Mendis b Vishwa Fernando | 17 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 73.91 |
| Mark Wood | b Asitha Fernando | 22 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 169.23 |
| Shoaib Bashir | not out | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Extras | 8 (b 0 , lb 4 , nb 3, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 358/10 (86.3 Overs, RR: 4.14) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 3 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 4.67 | |
| Prabath Jayasuriya | 31 | 5 | 85 | 3 | 2.74 | |
| Asitha Fernando | 18 | 0 | 103 | 4 | 5.72 | |
| Vishwa Fernando | 19.3 | 1 | 73 | 2 | 3.78 | |
| Milan Rathnayake | 13 | 0 | 66 | 1 | 5.08 | |
| Kamindu Mendis | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nishan Madushka | b Chris Woakes | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | c Harry Brook b Mark Wood | 27 | 32 | 4 | 0 | 84.38 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Jamie Smith b Gus Atkinson | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Matthew Potts b Chris Woakes | 65 | 145 | 2 | 1 | 44.83 |
| Dinesh Chandimal | not out | 20 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | lbw b Matthew Potts | 11 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 44.00 |
| Kamindu Mendis | not out | 56 | 109 | 6 | 1 | 51.38 |
| Milan Rathnayake | c Ben Duckett b Joe Root | 10 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Extras | 15 (b 0 , lb 8 , nb 1, w 6, pen 0) |
| Total | 204/6 (60 Overs, RR: 3.4) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Woakes | 12 | 3 | 34 | 2 | 2.83 | |
| Gus Atkinson | 10 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 3.80 | |
| Shoaib Bashir | 16 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 3.81 | |
| Mark Wood | 10.2 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 3.53 | |
| Matthew Potts | 11 | 4 | 26 | 1 | 2.36 | |
| Joe Root | 0.4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.50 | |
