Dhananjaya De Silva And Milan Rathnayake Star In Sri Lanka Revival Against England

Dhananjaya de Silva and debutant fast bowler Milan Rathnayake both made fine fifties as Sri Lanka recovered from a dramatic top-order collapse on Wednesday's opening day of the first Test against England at Old Trafford. Sri Lanka were in dire straits at 6-3 after skipper De Silva won the toss, losing their first three wickets for no runs in 10 balls.

Yet they recovered to 236 all out, De Silva top-scoring with 74 and tailender Rathnayake, with only his third first-class fifty, close behind in making 72.

The pair checked England's progress during an eighth-wicket partnership of 63, with no other Sri Lanka batsman making more than Kusal Mendis's 24. "The captain wanted me to stay in there and support him," number 9 Rathnayake, speaking via a translator, told reporters after stumps. "That's what I did and when he got out, then I played my natural game."

Chris Woakes struck twice in an over on his way to 3-32 in 11 overs. De Silva's impressive innings ended when he turned a quicker ball from off-spinner Shoaib Bashir straight to Dan Lawrence at leg slip, with the 20-year-old taking 3-55 in 23 overs.

'Good day' for England

Ben Duckett and Lawrence, recalled in place of the injured Zak Crawley, guided England to 22-0 before bad light ended play for the day at 5:52 pm (1652 GMT). "I think it's a good day," Woakes, now the leader of England's attack following James Anderson's retirement, told Sky Sports.

"When you bowl on day one on a Test surface like that, to be batting at the end of the day I think you're really happy.

"It would have been nice to bowl them out earlier than what they got, but with the bad light we couldn't bring our quick guys on to mop up the tail."

Sri Lanka's initial collapse ensured a dream start for