Fresh off their stunning ODI series win against India, Sri Lanka now will look to repeat the feat with the red ball as they take on England in Manchester for the 1st test of the three test series of their tour of England.
As England and Sri Lanka get ready to clash, here’s our match preview and predictions for the first test.
The hosts have a make-shift captain as Ben Stokes is replaced by Ollie Pope, due to injury, while this is the first test series England play since James Anderson’s retirement. England have brought back Dan Lawrence to their batting setup with stand-in captain Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Harry Brook all looking to get a good series under their belt. With no Anderson in the lineup, Matt Potts returns as England go in with a four-man pace attack with Shoaib Bashir being the only specialist spinner with Ollie Pop and Joe Root both more than capable to roll their arms over when required.
Sri Lanka were woefully off colour in the warm-up game against England Lions, having a batting collapse in the first innings and while Dhananjaya de Silva and Nishan Madhushka got some runs in the second innings, it wasn’t enough to stop the Lions lock in an easy 7 wicket win. The two positive points from the warm-up game would be Dhananjaya de Silva’s all-round show and Prabath Jayasuria’s five-wicket haul in the first innings. Vishwa Fernando, who recently had a strong County stint with Yorkshire earlier in the summer, will be one to look out for, amidst a relatively inexperienced pace unit. The visitors will also bank on the likes of Dimuth Karunanratne, Dinesh Chandimal and Angelo Matthews to use their experience in foreign conditions to step up with the bat.
While not having their captain Ben Stokes would certainly be an important factor for the hosts, England have more than enough talent and experience in their arsenal to be the favourites to start their home series against Sri Lanka with a win. The Old Trafford ground is known for high-scoring games along with assistance for pace bowlers, which should work in the favour of the hosts this time around given their pace bowling lineup and batting unit.
Fantasy XI: Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Dimuth Karunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal Joe Root, Dhananjaya de Silva, Angelo Matthews Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Prabath Jayasuriya, Gus Atkinson
Venue: Manchester
Winner Prediction: England
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