Sri Lanka Wins Toss, Opts To Bat Against England

News Desk

Manchester: Sri Lanka Captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and elected to bat first in the opening Test match against England at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The decision was made despite overcast skies in Manchester which could provide some early assistance to England’s fast bowlers. De Silva noted that the pitch appeared dry and conducive to batting but emphasised that his team was prepared for the conditions.

England, led by stand-in Captain Ollie Pope due to Ben Stokes’s absence with a torn hamstring, has been inclined to bowl first but accepted the challenge to bat. Pope, leading England for the first time, expressed pride in the opportunity despite Stokes’s injury.

England made two changes from their last Test match, bringing in Matthew Potts to replace Stokes and Dan Lawrence to replace the injured Zak Crawley at the top of the order. Sri Lanka handed a Test debut to fast bowler Milan Rathnayake.

Teams:

England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wkt), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, and Shoaib Bashir.

Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Dinesh Chandimal (wkt), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, and Vishwa Fernando.

Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS), Joe Wilson (WIS)
TV Umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
Match Referee: David Boon (AUS)