NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka's batting lineup struggled in the first session of the opening test against England at Old Trafford on Wednesday, as the hosts' bowling attack took advantage of favorable conditions to reduce the visitors to 80 for five at lunch.
Despite winning the toss and electing to bat, Sri Lanka found themselves in trouble early on, losing three wickets for just six runs in the first seven overs. Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes were the chief architects of Sri Lanka's downfall, with Atkinson dismissing opener Dimuth Karunaratne and Woakes removing Nishan Madushka and Angelo Mathews in quick succession.
Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal managed to stabilize the innings, taking the score to 40 before Mendis fell victim to a vicious 93mph delivery from Mark Wood. The ball struck Mendis on the thumb before flying through to Harry Brook at slip, ending his innings on 24.
Sri Lanka's woes continued as captain Dhananjaya de Silva, despite playing positively to reach 28 at lunch, saw his partner Chandimal dismissed lbw by right-arm spinner Shoaib Bashir. The ball pitched outside off stump and kept low, striking Chandimal on the ankle.
England started their innings with their Bazball approach, scoring 22 runs in 4 overs before play was stopped due to bad light.
In the absence of regular captain Ben Stokes, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the English summer due to a hamstring injury, Ollie Pope led the England side.
The day began with a tribute to former England batsman and coach Graham Thorpe, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 55.
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