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Smith and Brook’s Half-Centuries Secure England’s First Innings
Smith and Brook’s Half-Centuries Secure England’s First Innings
England's Wicketkeeper Batsman Jamie Smith score his third fifty in five Test innings.
In the first innings of England, Jamie Smith and Harry Brook made a half-century, leading to Old Trafford in the Test series against Sri Lanka. On the second day of the match, only 57 overs were played due to bad weather conditions. Both teams had moments of control, but England ended the day at 259/6.
Sri Lanka started very well to the day as they will be finally able to play after completing the wait that they had to do because of rain and wet outfield. Asitha Fernando got Ben Duckett out leg-before-wicket early on and then bowled Ollie Pope, breaking through his defense to hit the stumps. Joe Root might also be bowled out before when the pacer gets to know about the outside edge but the ball flies between the gully and second slip. Sri Lanka took early control as Dan Lawrence, who seemed promising during his brief time at the crease, poked one-off Vishwa Fernando.
Root and Brook had to form a strong partnership to help England recover from a difficult situation. They managed to add more than 50 runs for the fourth wicket. Unfortunately, England faced a setback when Asitha took Root's wicket, who got caught behind while trying to hit a full-length delivery. The pressure was then on Brook to improve the innings with Smith. The two of them quickly scored runs, with Brook hitting a perfect on the drive and Smith following up with a six over long-on.
The momentum shifted after the second consecutive fifty partnership, which also helped Brook reach a score of more than fifty runs. Smith hit a boundary at the beginning of the final session, but England faced a setback when Prabath Jayasuriya bowled a fantastic delivery that led to Brook getting out. Despite this setback, Chris Woakes began to gain confidence as England closed in on Sri Lanka's total score.
Woakes hit two consecutive boundaries, scoring important runs for England, which frustrated Sri Lanka. Smith went past fifty runs and then hit a boundary straight down the ground, putting England in the lead. As the light started fading and the drizzle returned, Jayasuriya bowled Woakes with a great delivery, and shortly after, the players had to leave the field due to poor light. With Smith still playing, England would hope for a good lead on the third day.
End of Day's Play
Day 1 : Sri Lanka 1st innings 236/10 (Dhananjaya de Silva 74, Milan Rathnayake 72, Chris Woakes : 3/32)
Day 1 : England 1st innings 22/0 (Ben Duckett 13*, Dan Lawrence 9*, de Silva : 0/14)
Day 2 : England 1st innings 259/6 (Jamie Smith 72*, Harry Brook 56, Asitha Fernando : 3/68)
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