Sri Lanka Opts to Bat First in Opening Test Against England at Old Trafford
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first in the first test of a three-match series against England at Old Trafford. England is without its captain, Ben Stokes, due to injury, with Ollie Pope filling in. Sri Lanka introduced debutant fast bowler Milan Rathnayake.
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- United Kingdom
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first Wednesday on a dry, hard pitch under some clouds at Old Trafford in the first test of the three-match series.
England, coming off a 3-0 series win over the West Indies, was without captain Ben Stokes in Manchester due to a torn hamstring sustained in a domestic game this month. Ollie Pope filled in as captain, while Dan Lawrence deputized as opener for Zak Crawley, who broke a finger in the West Indies series.
Pope mentioned he would have chosen to bowl first if he had won the toss.
Sri Lanka gave a debut to fast bowler Milan Rathnayake, picked ahead of Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara, marking the start of their first test series in England since 2016.
Teams: England: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne, Nishan Madushka, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, Milan Rathnayake.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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