Chris Woakes struck three times as Ollie Pope made a great start as England captain, while Sri Lanka struggled to 8-178 on the first day of the first Test.
Woakes took a double-wicket at Old Trafford on Wednesday as the tourists slipped to 3-6 in a disastrous half-hour early in the match, and took another wicket after lunch.
Gus Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir scored twice each and Mark Wood’s extreme pace earned him one, giving Pope the ideal start to his temporary stint as captain of the 82nd England men’s team.
Eight years after their last Test tour here and after losing to the young England Lions team in their only warm-up match, Sri Lanka were left defenseless in the unfamiliar conditions.
They finally found some resolve in the form of captain Dhananjaya De Silva, who bravely scored 74 but remained clearly on the defensive.
The day began with an emotional tribute to the late Graham Thorpe. Joe Root appeared close to tears as players and fans remembered the great left-hander with a minute’s applause.
James Anderson was also honoured at his home ground when the recently retired record wicket-taker rang the five-minute bell.
Anderson would certainly have loved the chance to face a fragile batting lineup on his own field, but after Pope lost his first coin toss, he could hardly have done better than Atkinson and Woakes.
Atkinson got things rolling by firing and carrying a short ball to Dimuth Karunaratne. The experienced opener looked to pull but was too late to shoot and simply caught the ball to Jamie Smith.
Woakes got Nishan Madushka with the first delivery of the seventh over; a casual hit to the outswinger landed in Root’s safe hands at slip.
He ended the over with an even better scalp, tricking the experienced Angelo Mathews with a big inswinger. Mathews, who has been a regular thorn in England’s side over the years, misread it completely and offered no strike as he was fully lbw.
After losing three wickets for no runs in ten balls, there was a brief comeback at the expense of Matthew Potts, but with the arrival of Wood, England took the lead again.
His first ball reached 95 mph and left Dinesh Chandimal reeling on his backside as he took an evasive action. Soon after, Kusal Mendis was caught in the glove as he fended off a short ball.
Sri Lanka’s misery was compounded by an unfortunate coincidence before lunch: Chandimal beat Bashir lbw after the spinner slipped at ankle height.
De Silva’s fighting spirit carried Sri Lanka through an improved afternoon session, hitting eight fours and going at Bashir, who could have knocked him silent on 65 had Smith won cleanly, but he lacked the support.
Kamindu Mendis became Woakes’ third victim when he was caught on 12 and Prabath Jayasuriya was dismissed on 10 after a bumpy debut innings in which he was hit on the hand and caught on a no-ball.
The kick-start came just before teatime when De Silva’s counter-attack ended and Bashir was guided around the corner where he slipped and Dan Lawrence deftly caught the ball.
