ENG vs SL: Jamie Smith and Ollie Pope put England on top in a rain-affected day 2

Wicketkeeper Batsman Jamie Smith continued to have an impressive start to his Test career as he pushed Ollie Pope-led England into a first-inning lead of 23 runs against Sri Lanka in the first test match of the three-match series by playing an impressive unbeaten inning of 72 runs as the Three Lions put up a score of 259-6 on the board before the proceedings of the second day ended earlier than expected due to constant rainfall interruptions at Old Trafford.

Replying to the 236 runs score put up on the board by the Sri Lankans, the duo of Harry Brook (56 runs) and Joe Root (42 runs) steadied things for the hosts in the middle of constant rain interruptions which eventually washed out the entire morning session of day 2.

But the rain showers had some other plans as they made players walk off the field and the umpires took the harsh decision of calling play off with more than an hour of play still left after the tea break.

24-year-old Smith, playing in just his fourth test match after getting included in the squad for this summer’s matches, played brilliant knocks of 95 runs and 70 runs during the 3-0 series sweep over West Indies last month and now he brought up his third fifty in the ongoing first test against Sri Lanka.

His knock of 72 runs consisted of one six and five fours and he continues to remain unbeaten at the crease alongside Gus Atkinson (4*runs).

The visitors are still in the match though and after struggling at 6-3 in the initial phase of their inning, they managed to post a decent total of 236 runs on the scoreboard. The Sri Lankans fought back in a really good way with the ball as fast bowler Asitha Fernando was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers with figures of 3-68 next to his name.

Sri Lanka 1st Inning Scorecard

England 1st Inning Scorecard

Check: Pakistan declare at 448-6 as Bangladeshi batters start on a cautious note