England take control on Day One
England won the toss and elected to bat on a dry and grassless pitch at Lords. Both teams had been hampered by injury coming into the match. England opener Jack Hobbs suffered an ankle injury during the warmup before the start of play and will likely miss the next game as well as this one. Peter May came in to replace him. Sri Lanka also suffered, losing Rangana Herath and Aravinda De Silva (both to shoulder injuries).
Heraths injury was a big blow as Sri Lankas bowlers toiled on a wicket devoid of any movement for most of the day. England got off to a flying start with Wally Hammond and Len Hutton latching onto anything slightly short or too full.
Hammond reached his 50 after just 37 balls and England were 100 without loss in just 23 overs. By lunch, England had reached 163 and Sri Lankas bowlers seemed to have little idea on how to stem the flow of runs. The onslaught continued after lunch. Hammond and Hutton both reached centuries and England were 291-0 by tea. Wally Hammond finally fell for 170 as he edged Asantha De Mel to Sanath Jayasuriya at gully, ending a magnificent opening stand of 323. Len Hutton fell the same way to Lasith Malinga for 167 about 45 minutes later. England were 357 for 2 and sent in Sydney Barnes as nightwatchman. Left arm seamer Chaminda Vaas trapped Barnes LBW for a duck just before the close of play. Peter May came in at 5 and saw out the remaining overs.
Sanath Jayasuriya and Asantha De Mel were the standout bowlers for Sri Lanka. Jayasuriya bowled 16 overs of left arm spin and went for just 55 runs, bowling at a time when Hutton and Hammond were at their most dominant.
It was a fascinating 1st day and with the pitch likely to do a little more tomorrow, England have put themselves in a very good position.
Teams:
England: L Hutton; WR Hammond; DCS Compton; PBH May; KP Pietersen; BA Stokes [c]; APE Knott [w]; FS Trueman; DL Underwood; JM Anderson; SF Barnes
Sri Lanka: ST Jayasuriya; KC Sangakkara [w]; MS Atapattu; DPMD Jayawardene; FDM Karunaratne; A Ranatunga [c]; WPUJC Vaas; RJ Ratnayake; ALF De Mel; M Muralitharan; SL Malinga
England ATG 1st Innings 360-3 (93 Ov)
WR Hammond 170, L Hutton 167
Hutton and Hammond were in complete control for most of Day One
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