Jamie Smith’s latest Test fifty gave England a narrow first-innings lead in the series opener against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Thursday.
England were 259-6 in reply to Sri Lanka’s 236, a slim lead of 23 runs when a combination of poor light and rain forced an early end to the second day of the three-Test series.
Promoted to No. 6 in the absence of injured captain Ben Stokes, Smith was 72 not out – the 24-year-old wicketkeeper’s third half-century in his four Test matches.
Once again he demonstrated his ability to support an established batsman and keep the runs coming with the lower order.
Along with Harry Brooke (56) and Chris Woakes (25), Smith scored 62 and 52 respectively, before both batsmen were bowled by a brilliant delivery from left-arm spinner Parbat Jayasuriya, who scored 21. Enjoyed an economic return of 58-2 in the overs.
After Thursday’s morning session rained out, England reeled at 67-3 in the 15th over, with fast bowler Asitha Fernando leading the way with 3-68 in 14 overs.
Sri Lanka lost their first three wickets without a run in 10 balls on Wednesday to slump to 6-3.
But skipper Dhananjaya De Silva top-scored with 74 after winning the toss with his bowlers still having runs to play, while Milan Rathnayake made 72 after winning the toss in any Test at No.9. Set new record for highest score by a debutant.
Scoreboard
Sri Lanka (1st innings) 236 (DD Silva 74, M Rathnayake 72; C Vokes 3-32, S Bashir 3-55)
England (1st innings, overnight 22-0):
B Duct LBWBA Fernando 18
D Lawrence C Chandimal BV Fernando30
O Pope BA Fernando 6
J Root C Chandimal BA Fernando42
H Brooke BJ Surya56
J Smith not out 72
C Vox BJ Surya25
G Atkinson not out 4
Extras (LB-2, NB-3, W-1) 6
Total (for six wickets, 61 overs) 259
Now to bat: M Potts, M Wood, S Bashir
Fall of wickets: 1-30 (Duckett), 2-40 (Pope), 3-67 (Lawrence), 4-125 (Root), 5-187 (Brock), 6-239 (Wakes)
Bowling: D Silva 2-0-14-0, Jayasuriya 21-5-58-2, A Fernando 14-0-68-3 (1w), V Fernando 13-0-51-1, Rathnayake 9-0 – 53-0 (3nb), KM Mendis 2-0-13-0
Sri Lanka: D. Karunaratne, N. Madushka, K. Mendis, A. Mathews, D. de Silva, D. Chandimal, KM Mendis, P. Jayasuriya, M. Rathnayake, A. Fernando, V. Fernando
Smith led England in the first Test against Sri Lanka
