Brook steadies England after Asitha Fernando strikes for Sri Lanka

MANCHESTER: Sri Lanka´s Asitha Fernando rocked England with three top-order wickets before Harry Brook´s unbeaten fifty left the first Test at Old Trafford intriguingly poised on Thursday.

After rain washed out the morning session, England were 176-4 -- 60 runs behind Sri Lanka´s first innings 236 -- at tea on the second day Asitha Fernando had figures of 3-46 in 10 overs, having dismissed opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for just six in his first innings as England captain before also removing key batsman Joe Root for 42.

But the 25-year-old Brook was 53 not out, with fellow rising star Jamie Smith unbeaten on 22 in an unbroken stand of 51 in 11 overs. Sri Lanka had collapsed to 6-3, losing their first three wickets for no runs in 10 balls on Wednesday´s opening day of this three-match series.

But their bowlers still had runs to play after Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva top-scored with 74 after winning the toss and Milan Rathnayake made 72 as he set a new record for the highest score by any Test debutant batting at No 9.

Play got underway Thursday with the floodlights on full beam in conditions favouring Sri Lanka´s quicks. Asitha Fernando thought he had Dan Lawrence lbw for 10 but the batsman, opening after Zak Crawley was ruled out with a broken finger, successfully reviewed umpire Paul Reiffel´s decision on height.

Two balls later, however, the paceman´s inswinger to Duckett, who added just five to his overnight 13, had the left-hander leg before with Sri Lanka overturning former Australia seamer Reiffel´s original not out verdict on this occasion.

- Pope bowled -

Asitha Fernando´s day got even better when he dismissed Pope, leading England after Ben Stokes was ruled out a torn hamstring, with a ball that knocked over the off stump after nipping back through a gap between bat and pad.

Lawrence, however, pulled successive Asitha Fernando deliveries for four as the bowler dropped short. But just as he was getting into top gear, Lawrence edged a ball angled across him from left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando and was well caught by diving wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal for 30.

The makeshift opener´s angry swish of the bat made clear how much Lawrence felt he had contributed to a dismissal that left England 67-3. Pope´s exit, however, had brought in Root, with the former England captain boasting a superb record against Sri Lanka of more than a 1,000 runs, including four hundred, in 11 previous Tests at an average of nearly 60.

Root was soon into his stride, with an onside clip for four off the expensive Rathnayake (0-45 in seven overs), before both he and Yorkshire team-mate Brook drove the paceman down the ground in near-identical textbook fashion.

Asitha Fernando, though, ended a promising stand of 58 in 11 overs when Root inside-edged an intended drive and a diving Chandimal held a fine low catch. But new batsman Smith confidently advanced down the pitch to drive left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya for six before Brook completed a 59-ball fifty.

Sri Lanka won the toss

Sri Lanka 1st Innings 236

England 1st Innings

Duckett lbw b AM Fernando 18

Lawrence c Chandimal b Fernando 30

Pope (c) b AM Fernando 6

Root c Chandimal b Fernando 42

Brook b Jayasuriya 56

Smith not out 53

Woakes not out 25

Extras: (lb 2, nb 3) 5

Total: 56.3 Ov (RR: 4.15) 235/5

Yet to bat: Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir

Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-40, 3-67, 4-125, 5-187

Bowling: Dhananjaya de Silva 2-0-14-0, Prabath Jayasuriya 19-4-50-1, Asitha Fernando 13-0-61-3, Vishwa Fernando 13-0-51-1, Milan Rathnayake 9-0-53-0, Kamindu Mendis 0.3-0-4-0

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney, Paul Reiffel