New Delhi. After a short break, the Test cricket season has started again. Test matches started on 21 August at two ends of the world. Pakistan and Bangladesh are facing each other in Rawalpindi while Sri Lanka and England are competing in Manchester. The Sri Lankan team, which defeated India in the ODI series, has reached England with great expectations but it has faltered at the beginning of the Test match itself.
Sri Lankan captain Dhananjay de Silva won the toss and decided to bat first. This decision suited England more than Sri Lanka, who took 3 wickets in the first hour of the game. The second hour of the game also went in England’s favour and this time they took 2 wickets. In this way, England took 5 wickets by the lunch break. When the first session ended, Sri Lanka’s score was 80 runs for 5 wickets.
Babar Azam is in a bad condition, after 20 months he played Test at home but his account was not opened, Pakistan is in trouble
Chris Woakes took 2 wickets in one over
England got their first breakthrough through Gus Atkinson. He got Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne (2) caught by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. In the very next over, Chris Woakes got Nishan Madushanka (4) out. Chris Woakes did not stop here and in the same over, he also forced Angelo Mathews to return to the pavilion. Angelo Mathews could not even open his account.
Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir took wickets
In the second hour of the first session, Mark Wood and Shoaib Bashir took one wicket each. Mark Wood got Kusal Mendis (24) caught by Harry Brook. After some time, Shoaib Bashir gave Sri Lanka the fifth blow by getting Dinesh Chandimal (17) LBW. This brought Sri Lanka’s score to 72 runs for 5 wickets.
India-Australia ahead in the race for WTC Final
The Pakistan-Bangladesh and England-Sri Lanka series are very important in terms of the World Test Championship. India and Australia are leading the race for the WTC final. If England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh want to come back in this race, they will have to win the series.
Tags: England Cricket, England vs Sri lanka, Sri lanka
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 21, 2024, 18:18 IST