- Long-awaited case on Man City charges to start on Monday: report
- PSG refuse League order to pay Mbappe disputed €55 million
- Harris, Trump target swing states after fierce debate
- Ten Hag hits back at Ronaldo criticism over Man Utd ambition
- Oscar hopefuls to bookend US French film festival
- UN chief calls for 'courage' ahead of Summit of the Future
- French rugby federation blames 'poorly managed' supervision for youth player drowning
- Movie producer Harvey Weinstein indicted on new charges: US media
- Ex-Scotland captain Hogg to miss Montpellier match after bail release
- 'Historic': Bad weather slashes wine harvest in France's Jura
- ECB rate cut boosts European stocks, euro
- Piastri not 'pulling over' for Norris at every race
- 'Energised' Tebogo looking to close season with Diamond League bang
- Millions in SE Asia battle floods, death toll passes 250
- Fiat 500 electric production pauses for one month
- London Fashion Week opens with Charli XCX party and second-hand runways
- ECB cuts rates again, Lagarde backs EU reform call
- Storm Francine downgraded but still drenching US south
- Everton say 'work to be done' on Textor takeover
- Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers in E.Ukraine
- Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers killed in E.Ukraine
- Iran president makes 'historic' visit to Iraqi Kurdistan
- Brigitte Macron awarded damages over false trans claim
- ECB rate cut boosts Europeans stocks, euro
- Deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school draws global condemnation
- Russia recaptures part of Kursk region
- Bike-loving Dutch grapple with 'fatbike' phenomena
- Ahead of Champions League warm-up, PSG are soaring and Brest slumping
- ECB cuts rates again as inflation slows
- Denmark's von Trier to direct a new film
- Arteta agrees new Arsenal deal
- Jon Bon Jovi helps woman standing on edge of US bridge
- SpaceX makes history with first spacewalks by private citizens
- England's Livingstone 'feels like a kid again' after injury setbacks
- Brazil urges EU to suspend 'punitive' anti-deforestation law
- Myanmar residents flee deadly floods in boats and on makeshift rafts
- Power struggle and chaotic player trading: What's going at Chelsea?
- Blinken seeks common cause in Poland after Ukraine jitters
- Stocks rally on cooler US inflation, before ECB rate call
- Spanish PM meets Venezuelan opposition figure amid tensions
- McLaren set to introduce team orders to support Norris title bid
- Tottenham's Bentancur charged with misconduct over remarks about teammate Son
- UniCredit CEO says Commerzbank takeover an option: Bloomberg
- Pogacar aims to conquer Canada before cycling worlds
- UK military urged to stop using bearskin hats on cost grounds
- New Queen Elizabeth II statue panned in Northern Ireland
- Ireland launches EU privacy probe into Google AI development
- Irish skipper Tom Dolan wins Solitaire du Figaro sailing race
- Boats carry terrified children to safety in Thai floods
- Tropical Storm Francine batters US state of Louisiana
JRI | -0.08% | 13.17 | $ | |
NGG | -0.25% | 69.15 | $ | |
BTI | -0.51% | 38.92 | $ | |
GSK | -1.52% | 43.115 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.4% | 25.14 | $ | |
BCC | 2.71% | 125.49 | $ | |
SCS | 0.89% | 13.46 | $ | |
RYCEF | 2.33% | 6.45 | $ | |
RBGPF | 4.7% | 59.81 | $ | |
RIO | 0.91% | 61.77 | $ | |
BCE | -0.01% | 35.185 | $ | |
AZN | -2.01% | 78.94 | $ | |
VOD | -0.18% | 10.022 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.08% | 25.11 | $ | |
RELX | 1.4% | 47.82 | $ | |
BP | 1.07% | 31.63 | $ |
Brook steadies England after Asitha Fernando strikes for Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando rocked England with three top-order wickets before Harry Brook's unbeaten fifty left the first Test at Old Trafford intriguingly poised on Thursday.
After rain washed out the morning session, England were 176-4 -- 60 runs behind Sri Lanka's first innings 236 -- at tea on the second day
Asitha Fernando had figures of 3-46 in 10 overs, having dismissed opener Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope for just six in his first innings as England captain before also removing key batsman Joe Root for 42.
But the 25-year-old Brook was 53 not out, with fellow rising star Jamie Smith unbeaten on 22 in an unbroken stand of 51 in 11 overs.
Sri Lanka had collapsed to 6-3, losing their first three wickets for no runs in 10 balls on Wednesday's opening day of this three-match series.
But their bowlers still had runs to play after Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva top-scored with 74 after winning the toss and Milan Rathnayake made 72 as he set a new record for the highest score by any Test debutant batting at No 9.
Play got underway Thursday with the floodlights on full beam in conditions favouring Sri Lanka's quicks.
Asitha Fernando thought he had Dan Lawrence lbw for 10 but the batsman, opening after Zak Crawley was ruled out with a broken finger, successfully reviewed umpire Paul Reiffel's decision on height.
Two balls later, however, the paceman's inswinger to Duckett, who added just five to his overnight 13, had the left-hander leg before with Sri Lanka overturning former Australia seamer Reiffel's original not out verdict on this occasion.
- Pope bowled -
Asitha Fernando's day got even better when he dismissed Pope, leading England after Ben Stokes was ruled out a torn hamstring, with a ball that knocked over the off stump after nipping back through a gap between bat and pad.
Lawrence, however, pulled successive Asitha Fernando deliveries for four as the bowler dropped short.
But just as he was getting into top gear, Lawrence edged a ball angled across him from left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando and was well caught by diving wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal for 30.
The makeshift opener's angry swish of the bat made clear how much Lawrence felt he had contributed to a dismissal that left England 67-3.
Pope's exit, however, had brought in Root, with the former England captain boasting a superb record against Sri Lanka of more than a 1,000 runs, including four hundred, in 11 previous Tests at an average of nearly 60.
Root was soon into his stride, with an onside clip for four off the expensive Rathnayake (0-45 in seven overs), before both he and Yorkshire team-mate Brook drove the paceman down the ground in near-identical textbook fashion.
Asitha Fernando, though, ended a promising stand of 58 in 11 overs when Root inside-edged an intended drive and a diving Chandimal held a fine low catch.
But new batsman Smith confidently advanced down the pitch to drive left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya for six before Brook completed a 59-ball fifty.
P.M.Smith--AMWN