1st Test
Day-3 Afternoon Session Highlights:
Angelo Mathews has played an important role from one end to get Sri Lanka score to reach to the hundred
At The Tea of Day-3:
Sri Lanka scored 236 (1st Innings) & 107/4 (2nd Innings), where as England scored 358 (1st Innings).
Sri Lanka trail by 15 runs.
England continued to make steady inroads at Old Trafford in the opening Test against Sri Lanka, securing two more crucial wickets in the post-lunch session.
Angelo Mathews put up a strong resistance, reducing the deficit to 15 runs, but with only six wickets remaining, England remains in control.
Sri Lanka began the session positively, with Dimuth Karunaratne driving a boundary past mid-on.
England’s attempt to gain an early breakthrough faltered as they lost a review for an lbw appeal against Karunaratne, who responded by confidently striking another boundary past mid-off.
Facing a challenging situation, Sri Lanka relied on their former skipper to lead the recovery, and Mathews answered the call, taking Gus Atkinson for two more boundaries.
However, a double change in England’s bowling attack brought the breakthrough they needed.
Mark Wood delivered a short ball that Karunaratne inside-edged onto his thigh pad, with the ball flying to Harry Brook at slip.
Mathews remained unfazed, launching a six over long-on off Shoaib Bashir.
Yet, a sharp delivery from Wood struck Dinesh Chandimal on the thumb, forcing him to retire hurt—a significant setback for Sri Lanka.
Dhananjaya de Silva, who had performed well in the first innings, was then surprised by a lack of bounce as Matthew Potts trapped him lbw.
With Chandimal’s availability in doubt, Sri Lanka faces a daunting task in the final session to stay in the game.
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