Sri Lanka Shines Through de Silva and Rathnayake After Early Collapse Against England on Day 1
Sri Lanka’s captain, Dhananjaya de Silva and debutant Milan Rathnayake lead a spirited recovery after a top-order collapse.
Despite their efforts, England held a strong position, trailing by 214 runs with all wickets intact in a gripping first day of the 1st Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
Match Scorecard
England 22 for 0 (Duckett 13*, Lawrence 9*) trail Sri Lanka 236 (de Silva 74, Rathnayake 72, Woakes 3-32) by 214 runs.
Match Analysis
With a brave 74 from 84 balls, Dhananjaya de Silva validated his own decision to bat first. Milan Rathnayake followed his captain’s lead with the highest-scoring debutant at No. 9 in Test history, a breathtakingly controlled 72 from 135 balls. But regrettably, Sri Lanka’s remarkable efforts were unable to compensate for an appalling top-order collapse that allowed England to take charge of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford by stumping the opposition on the opening day.
England had to rely solely on spin bowling for the last hour of their bowling session after Sri Lanka was bowled out for 236 in dim light. This presented an early test of Ollie Pope’s tactical acumen on his first day as Ben Stokes’ captaincy stand-in. By the time Vishwa Fernando was the last man out, run out for 13 from 61 balls in an innings that echoed his famous tail-end defiance in partnership with Kusal Perera at Durham in 2019.
Furthermore, that total was rich in comparison to what had been expected after the first half-hour of the play, even if it appeared below par on a firm and dry surface that Pope expected to hold true for at least the first half of the match. After seven overs, Sri Lanka’s innings was in ruins at 6 for 3, all three wickets falling to Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson in the span of ten deliveries.
After limiting Dimuth Karunaratne to just one scoring stroke in his opening 17 deliveries, Atkinson delivered the first blow, but the batsman mishandled his opening shot in a fit of rage, swiping it across the line to a well-placed lifter. After four balls, Woakes presented Joe Root with a delicious outswinger that he could only scuff straight to first slip, where Joe Root hung on with the heel of his palms. This time, Nishan Madushka’s early discipline also failed him.
And Woakes got his second, thanks to a horrifying blunder from Angelo Mathews, with the last ball of that over. Burning a review in the process, the hero of the 2014 series victory went for a five-ball duck, offering no stroke to an inducker that was clearly hitting the top of middle.
With the first five boundaries of the innings coming in the space of 12 balls, Kusal and Chandimal displayed some bravery in a limited counterattack. Kusal got four of these boundaries off Matthew Potts, whose wide angle into the stumps gave Kusal the opportunity to free the hands through the off-side. Potts would end as the attack’s weakest link with 48 runs from his nine overs.
However, there was still another task waiting for the second hour after hobbling to drinks on 37 for 3. With characteristic fervor, Wood launched into his opening spell and struck with his seventh ball, a brutally fast lifter to Kusal that struck his left thumb and looped to Harry Brook at second slip. Similar to the snorter that fractured Kevin Sinclair’s wrist during the West Indies series, Kusal emerged from the crease wringing his hand and appearing to be in dire need of an ice pack.
De Silva was removed to support the innings that was struggling, but as lunchtime approached, his composed partnership of 32 runs in seven overs with Chandimal was brutally and atypically destroyed. During an exploratory pre-lunch stint, Shoaib Bashir joined the assault.
In his second over, he struck with an unplayable daisycutter that brought back memories of Nasser Hussain’s viral moment against Carl Hooper in 1998. Though Bashir’s embarrassed appeal and celebration may have given Chandimal all the information he needed to know, he bet on the review, hoping against hope that he’d been struck outside the line.
But that would be the lowest point of Sri Lanka’s innings. With each of the eight well-placed boundaries displaying his deft footwork, delicate balance, and pre-toss faith in the actual nature of the surface, De Silva himself matured into his role either side of the lunch break.
Rathnayake would not prove to be quite as naïve in his shot selection, though there would be more guileless dismissals to follow, with both Kamindu Mendis and Prabath Jayasuriya snicking off with shaky footwork after Woakes and Atkinson had varied their lines and lengths.
Though he looked shy as a schoolboy when Kumar Sangakkara gave him his Test cap prior to the match, Sri Lanka’s rookie proved more than capable of withstanding England’s determined attempts to remove him from the game. In an eight-wicket stand of sixty-three, he picked off the first of de Silva’s four fours, playing the part of the dependable sidekick to great effect.
Rathnayake took up the mantle for his side with remarkable results after tragedy seemed to have struck right before tea, with de Silva fencing a Bashir offbreak to Lawrence at leg slip, leaving his team on 176 for 8. Even though he had already scored 59 in 52 first-class innings, he knew when to let loose. He started with a powerful swing over long on to reach his half-century and finished with a lovely drill over long off to set a new career high.
At one point, England tried to break up Wood’s growing 50-run partnership with Vishwa by bringing him back into the attack, but the umpires intervened, stating that there was insufficient light for the fast bowlers. Wood had his jumper halfway over his shoulders. Even though it took some time, Bashir eventually took the necessary action, luring Rathnayake into one too many lofted launches while Woakes reversed course mid-stride to put a stop to his enjoyment.
As the reply began, with 30 minutes remaining, Sri Lanka also immediately resorted to slow bowling, using two spinners to share the new ball for the first time in a men’s Test match in England since 1970. Lawrence opened the batting in lieu of Zak Crawley, and together with Ben Duckett, he rattled along to 22 for 0 in four overs, demonstrating the likely riches still available on the surface.
Before the game began, both teams lined up in the outfield as a memorial to the late Graham Thorpe, who passed away on August 4 at the age of 55. Throughout the match, England will wear black armbands in remembrance of a great English batsman who averaged 44.66 during his 100 Test career and went on to become an important batting coach to many of the current squad, including Pope, Stokes, and Root.
