England make strong start to life under Pope

First Test, Emirates Old Trafford (day one of five)

Sri Lanka 236: Dhananjaya 74, Rathnayake 72; Woakes 3-32, Bashir 3-55

England 22-0: Duckett 13*

England are 214 runs behind

Scorecard

England made a strong start to life under Ollie Pope’s temporary captaincy, bowling out Sri Lanka for 236 on the first day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

Pope’s first act standing in for the injured Ben Stokes was to lose the toss. Pope indicated he wanted to field first anyway and his instincts were proved correct as Sri Lanka immediately slumped to 6-3.

Mark Wood produced a snorter to remove Kusal Mendis, then Shoaib Bashir a scuttler to pin Dinesh Chandimal, a two-paced pitch with some uneven bounce playing a part in Sri Lanka’s lurch to 113-7.

It was captain Dhananjaya de Silva who showed the grit and application to keep the tourists respectable. He added 63 for the eighth wicket with Milan Rathnayake, the seam bowler playing his first Test.

Even after Dhananjaya was caught at leg slip off Bashir for 74, Rathnayake continued to 72, the highest score ever made by a number nine on Test debut.

When Vishwa Fernando was run out to end the Sri Lanka innings, the light was so poor that England were unable to bowl their pacemen.

That meant Sri Lanka had to open the bowling with spin, not necessarily a disadvantage on a surface already turning.

In four overs, Ben Duckett and the recalled Dan Lawrence moved to 22-0. Sri Lanka wanted to call on pace, so the umpires intervened over the light, leaving 12 overs unbowled.

Oliver's Army

On the day Pope became the 82nd man to lead England in Test cricket, there were periods when captaincy seemed straightforward. England enjoyed help from some woeful Sri Lanka batting and the occasionally unpredictable surface.

Some of the home players were emotional during pre-play tributes to Graham Thorpe, the former England batter and coach who died earlier this month at the age of 55.

The action that followed was initially frantic – Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets inside seven overs – but became more attritional when the tourists dug in. As the morning sunshine gave way to strong winds and grey clouds, it was as tough to be a spectator as a visiting batter.

Rathnayake was an unlikely candidate to test Pope’s tactical acumen, first in the stand with De Silva, then battling on after the loss of the Sri Lanka captain.

Overall, Pope led in similar fashion to Stokes. Catchers were regularly employed, often in creative places, and England were quick to go to a short-ball plan. If anything, Pope’s only bum notes were to ask the recalled Matthew Potts to bowl bouncers, not the Durham man’s strength, and the over-enthusiastic burning of two reviews on poor caught-behind appeals.

In the gloom, Pope was prevented from bowling Wood and Rathnayake got after the spin of Bashir and Joe Root. In a Stokes-like move, Pope kept the field in and was rewarded when Rathnayake finally miscued to mid-on.

England's strong morning

England swept aside West Indies 3-0 last month and this looked like being a similar mis-match in a first session when the hosts were every bit as good as Sri Lanka were poor.

Dimuth Karunaratne tried a pull at Gus Atkinson in only the fifth over and edged behind, Nishan Madushanka played a wild drive to edge Chris Woakes to first slip and Angelo Mathews misjudged Woakes so badly he shouldered arms to one that would have hit middle had it not crashed into his front pad.

If Sri Lanka were culpable in losing three wickets for no runs in the space of 10 balls, the deliveries to get the next two wickets were unplayable.

Wood reached 95mph with his first delivery, then got one to spit into Kusal Mendis’ glove. At the other end, Bashir’s off-break practically rolled along the ground to trap the helpless Chandimal.

Five down at lunch, Sri Lanka lost Kamindu Mendis when he poked behind to give Woakes a third wicket, before Prabath Jayasuriya was spooked by Atkinson’s bouncers to be caught by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith in the same over he survived being dismissed off a no-ball.

England were on course to be batting before tea, then came the Sri Lanka resistance.

Dhananjaya and Rathnayake dig in

Sri Lanka have not played a Test in the UK since 2016 and only two matches outside of Asia since March 2021. On Tuesday, Dhananjaya said his side wanted more than their solitary warm-up against England Lions and the top order looked vastly under-prepared.

But the skipper showed his team-mates the way with a purposeful innings, never missing an opportunity to attack the England bowlers. His half-century was reached in only 56 deliveries.

Support came from Rathnayake, who was perhaps inspired by receiving his Test cap from Sri Lanka great and fellow left-hander Kumar Sangakkara at the beginning of the day. He squirted the ball through the leg side and showed elegance through the off.

Dhananjaya survived a tough stumping chance on 65 when Smith fumbled off Bashir, yet Bashir got his man when Dhananjaya turned to Dan Lawrence at leg slip.

Rathnayake continued, dominating a ninth-wicket stand of 50 with Fernando. He went past the previous best by a number nine on Test debut, the 71 of India’s Balwinder Sandhu in 1983, when he hit Bashir down the ground, only for an attempt at a repeat to end in the hands of Woakes for Bashir’s third wicket.

Lawrence, recalled to open in place of the injured Zak Crawley, would have been run out for two had Mathews’ throw from mid-wicket hit direct, England’s only alarm in cutting the deficit to 214.

'Sri Lanka showed spirit' - what they said

Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "It's been a funny old day. I thought England would be batting after lunch when Sri Lanka were 6-3. But, as with every Sri Lanka side that's ever been, they showed spirit.

"The captain Dhananjaya de Silva made batting actually look quite easy, in the face of some really rapid bowling from Mark Wood. And Rathnayake was just brilliant, what a left-hander he is to come in at number nine.

"I still feel like it's significantly under par but you just never know because there is rain about and that can often change things quite dramatically."

Ex-Sri Lanka all-rounder Russel Arnold: "The technique that's required to play Test cricket in the UK is very different to what is needed in Sri Lanka. It is very, very difficult.

"And when you're under pressure, as they were here, it becomes even more difficult.

"Another warm-up game would have been ideal. But there aren't the opportunities for them in the schedule."