5 key highlights from Day 1 as England take control in Manchester

Collapse at the top

Sri Lanka opted to bat first and began in the most anti-Bazball fashion, scoring only five in the first five overs. What looked like a watchful start soon turned into a disastrous one. Within the next two overs, they slid to 6/3. 

Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka were out to loose attempts to break free. Meanwhile, Angelo Mathews was dismissed for a duck, shouldering arms to a delivery angling in. Chris Woakes bowled a double-wicket maiden, nabbing both Madushka and Mathews. 

Chandimal’s poor luck

Dinesh Chandimal batted well for his 17 runs until he received a shooter from Shoaib Bashir. The Manchester pitch constantly showed inconsistent bounce, and Chandimal was on the wrong side of it. A full-length delivery barely rose above his ankle, scooting under his bat to pin him LBW. There was nothing Chandimal could have done about it. 

The wicket came at an inopportune moment for the visitors as Chandimal was brewing a partnership with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva. 

De Silva steps up again

Having been elevated to Test captaincy with a string of impressive performances, de Silva brought his overseas charisma to Manchester. Walking in at the precarious situation of 40/4, the 32-year-old scored a brave 74 off 84 balls, carrying Sri Lanka to 176/8 at the point of his dismissal. 

While he would be disappointed not to convert it into his third overseas hundred of the year, he led Sri Lanka’s recovery to a respectable total.

Rathnayake’s day out

De Silva found support from an unlikely corner — Milan Rathnayake on debut with a first-class batting average of 16.1. The duo added 63 runs for the eighth wicket. The skipper showed faith in the debutant. In the first 10 overs of their partnership, the left-hander played 37 deliveries, scoring 16 runs.

After de Silva departed, Rathnayake added 60 more runs with the remaining two batters, carrying Sri Lanka to a first innings total of 236. He reached his fifty with a six and notched up the second-highest score on debut for a Sri Lankan batter against England.

Duckett, Lawrence see through the day

Sri Lanka could only bowl four overs of spin due to the fading light. The England openers Ben Duckett and Dan Lawrence ensured no damage while adding 22 runs on the board. Around 10 overs of play was lost due to bad light on Day 1. 

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out — big time. Play Fantasy on Cricket.com NOW! Download the App here.