The first Test match between England and Sri Lanka which began on Wednesday is finely poised. The hosts ended the second day with a lead of 27 runs with 4 wickets in hand as wicketkeeper Jaime Smith is batting well along with Gus Atkinson.
Prabath Jayasuriya had the best moment of the day when he produced the ball of the Test match. The incident occurred in the first ball of the 40th over as the left-arm spinner was bowling to English batter Harry Brook.
Bowling from round the wicket, Jayasuriya pitched the ball in the middle stump line. The ball turned a long way and hit the top of the off-stump to give Sri Lanka their 5th wicket. Harry Brook couldn’t believe his eyes as he stood there for a few seconds unable to fathom the beauty he had received.
England nose ahead on terrific second day
Overnight rain and bad light meant that the start of the second day in Manchester was delayed. England had scored 22/0 at the end of the first day after bowling out Sri Lanka for 236. Ben Duckett scored 18 runs off 20 balls before becoming the first wicket of the day out LBW to Asitha Fernando.
Asitha Fernando got his second wicket when he beat England skipper Ollie Pope for pace to dismiss him for 6. Daniel Lawrence scored 30 before he edged behind the ball to Dinesh Chandimal to give Vishwa Fernando his first scalp of the game.
Joe Root and Harry Brook combined to add 58 runs for the 4th wicket in 11 overs. That stand was broken when Asitha Fernando got rid of the former England skipper for 42. Harry Brook batted well as he scored 56 off 73 balls with 4 boundaries before falling to Prabath Jayasuriya.
The left-arm spinner struck once more as he got through the defences of Chris Woakes for 25. Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes had added 52 runs for the 6th wicket in 110 balls to give England the lead.
When stumps were called Jamie Smith was batting on 72 having batted 97 balls with 5 fours and a six. Gus Atkinson had batted 10 balls as he kept the young Smith company to score 4 runs.