Sri Lanka in big trouble as England take control of their first Test – Hiru News

Lunch Sri Lanka 236 and 10 for 2 (Mathews 6*, Karunaratne 4*) is 112 runs behind England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102)

Sri Lanka found themselves in a precarious position at lunchtime on the third day of the first Test against England at Emirates Old Trafford. Sri Lanka were 112 runs behind and struggling at 10 for 2 in their second innings, with Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne batting in an attempt to stabilise the innings.

Earlier in the day, Jamie Smith capitalised on his promising start to score his maiden Test century in just his fifth innings. Smith resumed play with 72 and quickly found his rhythm against a Sri Lankan attack that lacked the intensity England had shown earlier in their innings. He played some superb drives to reach the milestone, eventually scoring 111 before being run out by Prabath Jayasuriya. Smith's composed century and England's backstops added crucial runs to take their total to 358.

Sri Lanka's second innings started disastrously as Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis were bowled out for nothing in the first three overs. Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson took advantage of the conditions and gave Sri Lanka a daunting task to avoid a heavy defeat.