Twitter Reactions: De Silva, Rathnayake's dogged knocks not enough as England take honours on Day 1

Despite winning the toss and opting to bat first on a track that seemed hard and dry at the toss, Sri Lanka gained negligible benefit as Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson's disciplined new-ball spell restricted them to just five runs in the first five overs. Three quick wickets to fall thereafter within a span of ten deliveries saw the visitors staring down the barrel at 6/3, with the third dismissal being that of veteran Angelo Mathews, who offered no stroke to be trapped in front.

What followed was a rebuilding phase as wicketkeeper-batter, Dinesh Chandimal, and Kusal Mendis resolutely weathered the brand new cherry in a partnership highlighted with mettle. Just when it appeared that the islanders might go into Lunch without further damage to the wickets column after Mendis could do nothing about a vicious lifter from Mark Wood, Chandimal was dismissed by a daisy-cutter from Shoaib Bashir, and despite going upstairs to challenge the decision, much like Mathews, Chandimal was declared out.

Kamindu Mendis and Prabhat Jayasuriya didn't last long after Lunch. Sri Lanka crumbled to 113/7. With the tail to come, it didn't seem bright for the Lankans and it appeared only a matter of time before they got bundled out. That's when the captain led from the front, with debutant Milan Rathnayake looking equally composed during their 68-run stand. Disaster struck at the stroke of Tea as de Silva ended up guiding a ball turning into him straight to leg slip's pouch.

This is when Rathnayake took the onus upon himself. His patient play was well-coupled with incisive strokeplay to accumulate runs on the board for himself. Along with a resolute Vishwa Fernando, he put on a priceless partnership together and not only that, brought up his half-century in some style by dumping the delivery over long-on. Having reached 72, it could be speculated that the debutant went for the glory shot to be the innings' highest run-scorer, surpassing de Silva's 74. He could only manage to swing it as far as a leaping mid-on, where Woakes caught. The debutant couldn't manage to go on to register a few more runs for his side, but what he sure did was etch his name into cricketing folklore by scoring the most as a No. 9 on Test debut.

The innings ended a few overs later, with an adamant knock of Vishwa Fernando coming to an end after he got run out while trying to steal a quick single. England's innings got underway in similar overcast conditions, the same murky skies that forced England to bowl spinners instead of pacers due to low visibility. The Lankans were compelled to start with spin, with two spinners sharing the ball for only the second occurrence in Tests played in England since 1970. The two openers looked comfortable at the crease, with the play having to be concluded seven minutes before the officially designated time where the close of play is assigned (6 pm BST). England ended the day on 22/0, leaving the Lankans all to do come Day 2.

Here's how X reacted to Day 1 of the Test: 

Well day 1 belong well and truly to #England! #SriLanka will have to work really hard to keep the game alive #ENGvsSL #CricketTwitter

— Mohamed Shazeen (@ShazeenIfamy) August 21, 2024

Day 1 Stumps ist Test #ENGvsSL Old Trafford update:
Bad light forces early stumps

SL= 236-10(74 overs)
DDS 74 Woakes 3-32

Eng= 22-0(4 overs)
Duckett 13*#CricketTwitter #CricketUpdate pic.twitter.com/lGNymQxsbv

— Cricket-World (@GuessWh98609542) August 21, 2024

World Record Alert | Highest score in a Test debut batting at No. 9 position

🇱🇰 Milan Rathnayake 72
🇮🇳 Balwinder Sandhu 71#ENGvsSL pic.twitter.com/rXICj5Td1A

— 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐍🇵🇰🤍 (@Faizanali_152) August 21, 2024

ENG vs SL 1st Test Day 1:
Sri Lanka all out for 236 after skipper Dhananjaya de Silva & Milan Rathnayake scored 74 & 72. For England Chris Woakes & Shoaib Bashir picks 3wkts each. England 22/0 at stumps. #ENGvsSL #SLvsENG #WTC25 #CricketTwitter

— Sports Geeez (@Sportsgeeez) August 21, 2024

Bad light brings an end to Day 1 of action between England and Sri Lanka 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇱🇰#ENGvsSL pic.twitter.com/EedNIfdKZ3

— Sports Updates 🏏⚽ (@Sportsspot56) August 21, 2024

12. Stumps Day 1: England Score 22-0. Trail by 214 runs. Will #bazball arrive? Will find tomorrow.
The updates will continue in this thread only so do not forget to bookmark it. 🏏 #ENGvsSL #TestCricket

— Cricketwood (@thecricketwood) August 21, 2024

Stumps. Being at 22/0, having 10 wickets in hand, trailing Sri Lanka by 214 runs, it’s going to be a long haul for England though!#ENGvSL #ENGvsSL #SLvENG #SLvsENG

— Sharon Solomon (@BSharan_6) August 21, 2024