England Tightens Grip as Jamie Smith’s Maiden Century and Woakes’ Swing Dominate Sri Lanka on Day 3
England’s first innings was supported by the steely 111 of Jamie Smith, who showed incredible forbearance and tenacity.
Smith was determined to take advantage of the opportunity after missing out on a century in his previous test against the West Indies. His century along with a well-played 56 from Harry Brook made sure that England scored a respectable 358.
Key Performances and Match Analysis
Sri Lanka 236 and 204 for 6 (Kamindu 56*, Chandimal 20*) lead England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) by 82 runs.
Match Analysis
Angelo Mathews appeared to be playing from memory for 65 runs, which spanned the better part of 50 overs and a variety of England tactical adjustments. In truth, his best recollection came from Sri Lanka’s victorious Test tour in 2014, when his twin hundreds served as the foundation for an incredible series victory.
By the end of the day, though, England was getting closer to their fourth Test victory of the summer thanks to the skillful swinging of Chris Woakes, who had reinstated the dominance that Jamie Smith’s century in the morning session had set in motion. Australians may remember this scenario grimly from last year’s Oval Test.
At the end, the situation was clear-cut. With four wickets remaining, Sri Lanka was leading by 82 runs. One of them was the wicketkeeper, Dinesh Chandimal, who was sent for an X-ray mid-innings after taking a horrific blow to the thumb from Mark Wood. However, his last-ball four off Shoaib Bashir was at least a sign that his right thumb was still functional.
Wood himself was the one who failed to see the game through to the end – he abandoned his run-up just before stumps, citing a twinge in his right thigh as the reason. However, Milan Rathnayake was soon lured to his doom by Joe Root’s golden arm, resulting in a bonus breakthrough as he came briefly into the attack to bowl the last four balls of Wood’s over.
These were just a few of the many storylines that unfolded during a packed day at Emirates Old Trafford. There was enough action to keep the match going well past the third evening, and one of the day’s highlights was an unbelievable catch made at midwicket by a beer-drinking fan.
However, despite Mathews’ unwavering fight and Kamindu Mendis’s tenacious 56 not out from 109 balls, the shortcomings in Sri Lanka’s performance—most notably, an embarrassing 15 minutes of batting before lunch—were probably too obvious to be ignored.
Following their overnight 259 for 6, England lost Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis for ducks to Woakes and Gus Atkinson, respectively, in that three-over period, falling to 1 for 2, having been 6 for 3 earlier.
All of this was a far cry from the competitive situation that had appeared overnight, with England trailing by just 23 runs and most of their chances of increasing that lead depending on their final, and least experienced, recognized batsman, Smith.
Following his return at 72 not out, Smith found his rhythm against a Sri Lankan attack that lacked much of the fervor with which they had attacked during England’s first half of the innings. When he hammered two boundaries through the covers in Asitha Fernando’s opening over of the day, it appeared as though Smith was eager to reach his three figures.
However, Smith retreated significantly after being dismissed for 95 against the West Indies at Edgbaston in his previous Test innings in July. Instead, he focused on establishing a strong seventh-wicket partnership of 66 with Atkinson, whose own score of 20 from 65 was his third such contribution in back-to-back England innings.
Once again, some dubious field placements aided England’s progress. Smith took 27 deliveries to score the last 14 runs of his century, the moment coming with a firm clip off the pads through square leg off Rathnayake. Atkinson was also often given easy singles through the off side to keep the strike rotating. He became the youngest England men’s keeper to reach a Test century at 24 days and 40 days.
Soon after, Rathnayake experienced a moment of his own to cherish: he claimed his first Test wicket.
However, it may not have gone as planned when Atkinson skilfully placed a delivery down the leg-side to Chandimal, whose poor take was validated by an umpire’s review. And after Smith was dismissed for 111 following a superb wide catch by Chandimal, defying a seaming delivery from Prabath Jayasuriya, Wood and Potts filled the void in a Bazball-approved fashion, smacking down 43 more runs for England’s last two wickets – 42 more than Sri Lanka would manage for their opening two, moments later.
Nevertheless, England did not anticipate that Sri Lanka’s middle order would be quite so generous with their wickets, and they adopted a cross-seam strategy after lunch, forgoing the immediate danger of new-ball swing in favour of the long-term benefits of a scuffed ball and the possibility of reverse-swing. It allowed Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne to settle into a polished fifty-run partnership that suggested better days ahead. However, a speed bump was bound to happen, and Wood dutifully provided it.
The audience moved in unison as Wood was tossed the ball for the innings’ fourteenth over, as has now become the custom of the summer. Wood fulfilled the expectation with a first-ball explosion. It came in Karunaratne’s midriff round the wicket, back of a length, and so quick he didn’t even realize he had nicked it before it cannoned off his padding and through to Harry Brook in the cordon. After saying a few sassy things into the stump mic, Snicko proved he’d “hit the cover off it” and had inside knowledge.
After three overs, Wood quickened his speed to deliver yet another body blow. Having having fractured Kevin Sinclair’s wrist in the West Indies series, he used yet another nasty lifter to twist Chandimal’s right thumb off the bat handle. When the physiotherapist arrived, Chandimal’s hand was trembling from pain and his thumb was swollen. The news that his subsequent medical visit had revealed no break but rather the escalation of an existing injury was a huge relief for everyone in the Sri Lankan camp.
Before the tea break, Potts struck again when Dhananjaya de Silva misplayed a pull and was pinned leg before wicket for eleven. However, when England came back, they adopted a short-pitched strategy, possibly knowing that the 30-over ball was losing its life.
When he and Mathews settled into a 78-run partnership for the fifth wicket, Kamindu showed that he was up to the task by sliding well inside the line to a bouncer from Wood and levering him up and over fine leg for six. With that, Sri Lanka could even consider a respectable total.
But in the 42nd over, England’s persistent efforts to force a ball change eventually paid off, and everything changed. By then, England’s frustrations had been growing, not least after an appeal for leg before wicket against Kamindu was reversed to a no-ball on review due to Smith’s gloves being found to have been intruding onto the batter’s stump line.
Abruptly, however, the new-old ball started to communicate. It could have been about the same age as its predecessor, but the obvious sheen on its surface indicated it had not been handled quite as rough, and that changed the task facing Sri Lanka.
Potts ought to have benefited most of all. After chasing a wide outswinger and being horribly dropped by Root at a lone slip, Mathews, on 65, had not scored a run for ten deliveries. Two balls later, Kamindu, on 39, was equally relieved when Atkinson grassed a low cut at backward point.
But Woakes made sure Mathews’ reprieve would only last a short while by turning his target inside out for a leading edge to point. This was followed by two further lbw decisions in Woakes’ favor that were reversed on review due to undiscovered inside edges for Kamindu and Rathnayake, respectively.
Though there was some uncertainty about the weather over the weekend, it doesn’t seem possible that England will reject four more opportunities before their fourth-inning target has been allowed to grow out of hand. The chances were suddenly coming thick and fast.
