Brook and Smith edge England ahead of Sri Lanka

First Test, Emirates Old Trafford (day two of five)

Sri Lanka 236: Dhananjaya 74, Rathnayake 72; Woakes 3-32, Bashir 3-55

England 259-6: Smith 72*, Brook 56; A Fernando 3-68

England are 23 runs ahead

Scorecard

England nudged ahead of a spirited Sri Lanka on a truncated second day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

Half-centuries from Harry Brook and Jamie Smith took the hosts to 259-6, an advantage of 23 runs, after rain delayed the beginning of the day and bad light brought an early close.

The home side had to work hard to keep Sri Lanka at bay. At one stage, England lost three wickets for 37 runs to be 67-3 before Brook added 58 with Joe Root and 62 with wicketkeeper Smith.

When Brook was bowled for 56 by Prabath Jayasuriya’s ripping turner, England were five wickets down and still 49 behind Sri Lanka’s 236.

But Smith, already so at home in Test cricket in only his fourth match, found support from Chris Woakes to push England into the lead.

They shared England’s third half-century stand of the day before Woakes became another victim of the beguiling Jayasuriya.

Smith remained unbeaten on 72 when play was abandoned with 22 overs unused, while there is the threat of more bad weather across the final three days of the match.

Even with two days curtailed by the elements, this Test has already contained plenty of intrigue and shifts of momentum.

Despite the wrestle in the middle, it has felt like a low-key spectacle. The crowd has been sparse, not helped by the Wednesday start. Those that turned up have had to deal with the murky skies and bracing wind sweeping across the ground.

England bowled Sri Lanka out on day one after losing the toss, still there was a period on day two when it felt like the hosts had not only let the tourists off the hook, but fully surrendered the initiative. Sri Lanka, who were 6-3 on the first morning, had three wickets in the first 11 overs when play finally began after lunch on Thursday.

England gradually restored their authority through the class of their middle order. They were helped by some brisk scoring that only slowed after Brook was dismissed.

Though England have a lead, the match is the balance. With Gus Atkinson at number eight, their tail is longer than it would usually be. There were fewer signs of uneven bounce than on day one, yet enough deliveries kept low to suggest England would not want to face a significant chase in the fourth innings.

The weather could yet defeat both teams. Heavy overnight rain is forecast into Friday, with more predicted for the weekend.

At 25 and 24 respectively, Brook and Smith look set to be mainstays of the England team for the next decade. Both have been give more responsibility in this series – Brook as vice-captain and Smith up a place in the batting order to number six.

England’s recovery was first led by Root, who played sweet drives down the ground for his 42. It was a surprise when he gave an inside edge to impressive seamer Asitha Fernando.

Brook timed the ball beautifully and would have got more for some of his cover drives had the rain not slowed the outfield. He passed 50 for the 14th time in his 16 Tests and, like Root, his dismissal to Jayasuriya’s wonderful delivery came out of nowhere.

Smith bumped along in Brook’s slipstream, his first 30 runs coming from 40 deliveries including a straight six off Jayasuriya. Impressively, the Surrey man read the situation after Brook was out and his 52-run stand with Woakes was England’s most watchful period of play.

On 25 Woakes became the victim of another Jayasuriya magic ball, leaving Smith in the company of Atkinson when the light drew in.

Midway through the first day Sri Lanka were in danger of being blown away. The resistance their lower order showed with the bat was matched by their day-two endeavour with the ball.

Not possessing the pace or stature of the England pace bowlers, Sri Lanka were unable to extract as much uneven bounce from the surface. However, they bowled fuller and swung the ball more.

Asitha Fernando was excellent. After England resumed on 22-0, he could have had Dan Lawrence leg before, only for the decision to be overturned then, two balls later, did get Ben Duckett lbw with a review of his own.

Ollie Pope, in his first innings as Test captain, was stuck on the crease to one Fernando got to hit the top of off, then Lawrence showed his frailty outside off stump by following a wide one from left-armer Vishwa Fernando.

From the triple-strike in the early going, Sri Lanka found wickets harder to come by, though left-arm spinner Jayasuriya is always capable of spectacular moments.

The delivery to get Brook was breathtaking: dipping and turning sharply into the top of off stump, thoroughly bemusing the England man. The one to get Woakes was almost as good, drawing the same reaction from the beaten batter.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan: “This is why Test matches at Old Trafford are so entertaining. You can be going along, thinking it’s quite smooth but all of a sudden one ball can cause a few tricks and it changes. As a batter you’ve got to be good enough to get through that.

“That’s why Sri Lanka are in this game if they can keep this lead down. Their batting could suit this surface. They’ll face a lot of Bashir, who will feel in the game, but they are very used to facing off-spin.

“This is where Mark Wood becomes so important for England. He’s bowling 95mph, that’s a huge point of difference and that’s what Sri Lanka didn’t have today.

“I’ve loved the pitch, it’s kept both sides interested.”

Ex-Sri Lanka all-rounder Russel Arnold: “Sri Lanka hung in there, they persevered. They did lots of things right.

“But if I’m going to be critical, they didn’t control the run-rate even with the fields they set and that’s because of how England play, the style of batter that they have. They are able to tick off the runs, poking it into the gaps.”