England Begins New Era Under Pope with Strong Performance.

Cricket General

England Begins New Era Under Pope with Strong Performance.

England had a solid debut under Ollie Pope's temporary captaincy, dismissing Sri Lanka for 236 on the first day of the Test at Emirates Old Trafford.

Ollie Pope's first move as temporary captain, filling in for the injured Ben Stokes, was to lose the toss. Despite this, Pope chose to field first, and his decision quickly paid off as Sri Lanka collapsed to 6-3.

Mark Wood's sharp delivery dismissed Kusal Mendis, and Shoaib Bashir's delivery removed Dinesh Chandimal. The uneven pitch contributed to Sri Lanka's rapid decline to 113-7.

Captain Dhananjaya de Silva fought hard to keep Sri Lanka competitive, scoring 63 for the eighth wicket with debutant Milan Rathnayake. 

Even after de Silva was out for 74, Rathnayake scored 72, the highest debut score by a number nine in Test history.