HARRY BROOK’S unbeaten half-century kept England ahead of the game as Sri Lanka fought hard on day two of the first Test at Old Trafford today.
After the morning’s play was wiped out by rain, the hosts found the going tough as they laboured to 67 for three — Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence all departing in a taxing eight-over spell.
But 42 from Joe Root and Brook’s vital 53 not out allowed them to reach 176 for four after an extended afternoon session. They trailed by 60 runs at tea, with high hopes of building a strong lead around Brook and Jamie Smith’s fifth-wicket stand.
Having started with spin from both ends due to bad light on the first evening, Sri Lanka’s seamers belatedly got their hands on the ball when play finally resumed at 1.15pm.
It did not take long for them to find some joy under leaden skies. Asitha Fernando had two big lbw shouts in the third over, Lawrence given on the field only to be spared on review and Duckett initially surviving before being condemned by DRS.
Duckett (18) was bang to rights, falling over to the off side and rapped straight in front of leg stump by a neat inswinger. That brought Pope to the crease for his first innings as England captain, but it was a brief and unsatisfying stay.
He hit his third ball to the boundary, gleefully cashing in on some width, but made just six before Asitha fired one through his defences. Pope hung back in his crease and left a sizeable gate between bat and pad but credit belongs to the bowler, who nipped the ball in sharply on an attacking length.
Lawrence was beginning to settle into his work in an unfamiliar opening role, pulling back to back fours in a show of confidence, but was unable to go past 30. His was a soft dismissal, poking uncertainly at a tempter from Vishwa Fernando that he should have left alone.
Having lost three for 30, England were on shaky ground as Root and Brook came together. The Yorkshire pair added 58 at a brisk rate, with debutant Milan Rathnayake finding out at his own expense that both men were willing and able to drive anything over-pitched back down the ground.
With the scoreboard rattling along and a modest first-innings score to defend, Sri Lanka needed to land another blow. Asitha was the man to deliver once more, drawing Root to drive away from his body and clipping the edge as wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal tumbled to snatch a low catch.
Smith, promoted to number six in the absence of the injured skipper Ben Stokes, flicked his first ball for four but he and Brook had to keep their wits about them as the ball began to reverse swing.
Another fifty stand followed, Brook positive with his strokes and his running and Smith adding a dash of colour when he launched Prabath Jayasuriya for six over long-on.
