Smith Shines as Sri Lanka Fight Hard

After a three-week break to accommodate The Hundred, England returned to Test cricket, with Sri Lanka the new opposition at Old Trafford. In their warm-up game against an inexperienced England Lions side featuring two players making their first-class debuts, the tourists had lost by seven wickets, which did not bode well for their chances. However, England were missing two key players through injury. Zak Crawley’s finger injury in the last Test meant he was replaced at the top of the order by Dan Lawrence, while Ben Stokes had torn his hamstring in The Hundred (going to show that injuries can happen in any format at any time), which meant that fellow Durham star Matthew Potts came in; Ollie Pope took over as captain for the first time, with Harry Brook promoted to vice-captain.

Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and chose to bat first. After a watchful start, Dimuth Karunaratne had a wild swish at Gus Atkinson, but it flew through to Jamie Smith. Then Nishan Madushka tried to drive at a wider one from Chris Woakes that he could have left and edged through to Joe Root. Next, Angelo Mathews was completely undone, leaving one from Woakes that cannoned into his pads – after half an hour, Sri Lanka were 6 for three, with their two most experienced batters already back in the pavilion.

When the opening pair finished, they were replaced by Potts and Mark Wood, whose first delivery was timed at 95mph. It wasn’t long before Kusal Mendis got a snorter from Wood that took his gloves and lobbed up to Brook at second slip. Dinesh Chandimal was undone by one from Shoaib Bashir that scooted along the ground and he was plumb LBW, unable to do anything about it. At lunch it was 80 for five, with England completely on top.

In the afternoon session, Kamindu Mendis was drawn into playing at one from Woakes but got a fine edge through to the keeper, as soon as the bowler went round the wicket. Skipper de Silva now seemed the last best hope for the tourists to reach even 150. Prabath Jayasuriya survived after a short-pitched delivery he lobbed up to Root was deemed to be the third bouncer of the over, and so was called as a no-ball, but his reprieve did not last long as he edged a fuller one from Atkinson to Smith. Milan Rathnayake, on debut, probably did not expect to be coming in at 113 for seven, but he was there to help his captain as de Silva went to fifty in 56 balls. Eventually the pair completed the first fifty partnership of the innings, off 81 balls. Just before tea, Bashir removed de Silva, caught at leg slip by Lawrence for 74, and at the break it was 178 for eight.

In the evening session, Rathnayake brought up his fifty with his first Test six in his 96th ball; primarily selected as a bowler, his runs were proving absolutely vital as the boundary also took his side past 200. With the light poor, England were unable to bowl their quickest bowlers, and when Rathnayake reached 66, it was the highest Test score by any Sri Lankan batting at nine or lower, as well as already being his best first-class score. With Vishwa Fernando playing the anchor role, the pair put on fifty for the ninth wicket in 120 balls, but then Rathnayake chipped Bashir to Woakes at mid-on and was out for an excellent 72. The end followed soon after when Fernando tried to pinch a single and was run out, and Sri Lanka were all out for 236. With the light still poor, Sri Lanka opened with two spinners and created a few moments of alarm for Ben Duckett and Lawrence but after four overs the light was too bad and England came off on 22 without loss.

The second day began with some typically persistent Manchester rain, and the morning session was washed out, so play didn’t begin until 1.15. It didn’t take long until Asitha Fernando struck, trapping Duckett in front, a decision that was only upheld after a DRS review (the second Paul Reiffel had got wrong in the first nine deliveries from his end). Pope followed soon after, bowled for 6 by one from Asitha that nipped back. Left-armer Vishwa Fernando pushed one across Lawrence and found the edge; the England batter came in averaging 29 and was now out for 30. At 67 for three, England needed Root (world ranked No 1) and Brook (No 7) to repair the situation, and it wasn’t long before the fifty partnership came up in 58 balls. Shortly afterwards, the pair reached 1000 runs batting together in Tests, and this was just the 15th occasion they had done so. But that was about it, as Root got a fine edge off Asitha, and he was out for 42.

That brought Smith to the crease, the last out-and-out batter in the side, as the game was in the balance, but with these two at the crease you knew the game would move on quickly one way or another. Brook’s latest fifty came up in 59 balls, and that was followed by the fifty partnership in 64 deliveries. At the break, England were 176 for four, just 60 behind and beginning to take control, but that all changed when Jayasuriya completely bamboozled Brook with one that turned sharply to take the top of off stump and bowl him for 56. Smith and Woakes then made unusually sedate progress for this Bazball era, with Smith reaching his fifty off 81 balls, but there wasn’t too much batting to follow and the Sri Lankan bowling was tight. Not long after, England overhauled the Sri Lankan score, also bringing up the fifty partnership in 105 balls (surely one of the slowest of the McCullum era). Woakes was then bowled by another beauty from Jayasuriya that took the top of his off stump. With rain in the air and bad light, the second day ended with England on 259 for six.

The third morning saw Sri Lanka below their best, but Smith on top, as the fifty partnership duly arrived after 91 balls, with even Atkinson finding it relatively comfortable. Smith then went on to complete his maiden Test century, coming in just 136 balls, to further confirm his status as England’s first-choice keeper (how quickly the debate over whether it should be him Jonny Bairstow or Ben Foakes seems to have been settled). Atkinson was then strangled down the leg side to give Rathnayake his first Test wicket, but by that stage England’s lead was already 69. Finally, Smith fell to Jayasuriya, when he edged an expansive shot to Chandimal. But Potts and Wood piled into the new ball, Wood falling for 22 off 13 balls. Potts was last to go, caught in the deep, as England were all out for 358, with Asitha finishing with four for 103.

There was a tricky period to see out before lunch, and Madushka left his third ball from Woakes that nipped back and clipped his off stump. In the next over, Kusal Mendis edged Atkinson to Smith and at lunch it was 10 for two. It had overwhelmingly been England’s session. Karunaratne and Mathews began the rebuilding process in the afternoon, but then Wood struck with his first delivery, Karunaratne edging to Brook on 27. Mathews soon became only the third Sri Lankan batter to score 1000 runs against England (after Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara). With Wood, if he doesn’t get you out, he can also hurt you, and Chandimal had to retire hurt after being hit on the thumb, bringing skipper de Silva came out to bat. Potts came on and quickly trapped de Silva in front, still trailing by 27. At tea, it was 107 for four, with England in control.

Early in the evening session, Mathews reached his fifty off 86 balls – a vital knock, but it was clear that he and Kamindu Mendis had much more to do. Not without alarms, the pair added fifty in 86 balls, with Mendis doing the bulk of the scoring. Potts should have had first Mathews, but Root couldn’t hold on, and then Mendis on 39 (dropped by Atkinson at backward point) within three balls of each other. Instead, it was Woakes who found Mathews’ edge, which looped up into the gully to send him back to the pavilion on 65. Within three deliveries, Chris Gaffaney upheld appeals against both Mendis and Rathnayake, both of which were overturned on appeal, after the umpire twice failed to spot an inside edge.

Kamindu Mendis pulled Wood for four to bring up his fifty in 95 balls to continue his excellent start to his career. Soon after, Wood pulled up during his run-up, an injury that was to end his Test series. Root came on to finish the over and with his second delivery dismissed Rathnayake, holing out to mid-off. Chandimal was able to return just before the close of play, and at the close Sri Lanka were 204 for six, leading by 82.

The Sri Lankan pair started positively, reaching their fifty partnership in only 74 balls. Chandimal scampered through for a quick single to bring up his fifty in 73 deliveries. At 275 for six, with the lead at 163, the rain came and for the first time in the match there was a sense that the game was in the balance. Unsurprisingly, England took the new ball as soon as it became available, but in its first over it was hit to the boundary by Kamindu Mendis to bring up his third Test century in just seven innings, off 167 balls – a superb effort in any circumstances, but especially in a situation like this. Those runs also brought up the hundred partnership in 149 balls. At lunch it was 291 for six.

After the break, Mendis came out with even more intent, but finally Atkinson struck when the Sri Lankan edged to Root to fall for 113 (after four Tests, he has scored 553 runs and averages 92.16). After that, the end came quickly: Jayasuriya edged Potts to Brook; Vishwa Fernando was plumb LBW to Woakes second ball; and Chandimal was caught at deep cover by substitute fielder Harry Singh on 79. Sri Lanka were all out for 326 to set England a potentially awkward target of 205 – a run-chase that had only been bettered on three occasions on this ground.

Unsurprisingly, England began positively before Duckett edged Asitha Fernando to stand-in keeper Kusal Mendis. Pope scratched around then tried a reverse sweep off Jayasuriya and was caught at gully. When Rathnayake trapped Lawrence in front, it was another start from him (34), but England were perhaps a little behind on 70 for three. At tea, it was 82 for three, with Sri Lanka eyeing up England’s long tail.

Root and Brook moved cautiously after tea, and when the latter chipped one back to bowler Jayasuriya the pair had taken almost 20 overs in adding 49 runs. It was 119 for four with the last two frontline batters needing to see England most of the way home, with 86 still required. Amazingly, England went an hour without finding the boundary, before Smith hit two in two balls, and then Root hit his first four off his 95th delivery. The pair completed the fifty partnership in 74 balls, so when Smith was well bowled for 39 by Asitha Fernando the score had reached 183 for five, and England’s victory was within sight. Root brought up his fifty in 108 balls – it was the 96th time in Tests he’d reached the landmark, drawing him level with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (only four batters have more, with Rahul Dravid next in line, on 99). There were no more alarms, as England eased their way to a five-wicket win, finishing on 205 for five.

Smith deservedly won the Player of the Match award in an England victory that ended up being more hard-fought than many expected. Sri Lanka’s improvement throughout the match will give them plenty of encouragement ahead of the Lord’s Test, starting on Thursday, if they can be more consistent. With Wood out, it was announced that Leicestershire’s Josh Hull would replace him in the squad. It was another interesting pick from the selectors, as the 6’7” left armer has taken just 11 first-class wickets in nine Championship games since the start of 2023 at an average of 84.54, but he did pick up five wickets in the Lions match against the tourists. Given the selectors’ recent hit rate with seemingly wild-card choices, few will bet against him succeeding if selected.