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On a gloomy second day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford, Sri Lanka battled valiantly to stay in touch. Asitha Fernando produced a compelling display of all-purpose seam and swing bowling, while Prabath Jayasuriya chipped in with two bewilderingly brilliant deliveries in an otherwise steady display of left-arm spin.
Thanks to a well-earned 72 not out from rookie keeper Jamie Smith, who replaced Surrey teammate Ben Foakes at No. 6 earlier in the summer, England were owed a debt of gratitude. This was Smith’s third half-century in five innings. After England recovered from a precarious 125 for 4, Harry Brook struck another fifty of his own to conclude on 259 for 6, a narrow lead of 23.
After two days of play, England looks like they should still win this match fairly easily, as they had throughout the West Indies series earlier in the summer. However, the quality and spirit of the visitors’ bowling has forced them to work a little harder than they may have in earlier Bazball eras. Across his 14 overs, which were divided into three major periods, Asitha in particular was outstanding. Among his many highlights was a cutting mid-innings reverse-swing attack that defied the dank circumstances.
When umpire Paul Reiffel pinned Dan Lawrence on the pad and declared him leg before wicket (LBW) on the opening ball of his second over, his performance took a dramatic turn. The ball was revealed to be skimming over the bails, successfully overturning the ruling, but the bowler perfectly processed and stored the information.
After Ben Duckett was on strike for two balls, Asitha threw the ball two feet fuller. This time, the review was successful, as it was proven that the ball was both pitching on and striking leg stump, turning Duckett inside out on his attempted flick across the line.
The highlight of Asitha’s new-ball spell came in his very next over when he pitched a superb wobble-seam delivery that was half a foot broader than the ball Lawrence hit and straightened off the field to smash into the top of Ollie Pope’s off stump. With their skipper out for six and their side struggling to recover at 40 for 2 in the ninth over, England had some work ahead of them.
Naturally, Root is accustomed to narrow top-order scorelines. Lawrence launched England’s counterattack as he settled in for the long term, sending two strong whips into the leg side of Asitha as she wandered in length. After a change of ends, Vishwa Fernando took advantage of his vulnerability in the channel to score just four of his thirty runs through the off side. He did this by using the breeze from the James Anderson End to force a lifter across his bows from his left-arm angle.
When he was undone expertly, climbing into a wider line from Asitha while still going for the inswing that had been the hallmark of his over up to that point, Root had reached 42 from 56 balls in another subtle show of touch and timing. Nevertheless, this ball stayed on course and went straight ahead, leaving England reeling at 125 for 4, thanks to a low edge collected by Dinesh Chandimal.
But Brook never wavered from his trademark aggressive style, working the gaps well and driving with heavy timing when the ball was over-pitched. As expected, he cruised to a 59-ball half-century, his 14th in just 25 Test innings. If it looked like something exceptional would be required to unseat him, Jayasuriya delivered soon after tea.
The left-arm spinner from Sri Lanka produced an impossible shot that gripped and rebounded off the leg and middle to scrape the top of off. Brook was stunned and so was Chris Woakes, who fell nearly exactly in the same way to the only other spinning delivery of the day that veered from the straight. Both men blinked in shock.
But in the interim, there was Smith, in the third fifty of his nascent career and certainly the most hard-earned yet. Early in his innings, he had to struggle against the swinging ball. However, one enormous six off Jayasuriya indicated that he was not going to be intimidated. It was at the halfway point of his innings that he showed his cunning.
And there was never any consideration of Sri Lanka bowling spin in the dark to try to fill the overs, as had been England’s strategy at the same point on day one, even as the light started to fade, minutes after Woakes’ removal. After securing six wickets, Dhananjaya de Silva marched his players directly towards the pavilion, with the hope of a night’s rest for his quicks before they continue their quest to stay in touch with a quietly engrossing contest.