Sri Lanka vs England, 1st test: 4 things learnt

#2. English seamers swung the ball and got early breakthroughs:

Jimmy Anderson

Jimmy Anderson and Sam Curran, the English new-ball bowlers, swung the ball very well and got the rewards by taking a wicket each in Sri Lanka's first innings.

Anderson got the wicket of Karunanratne with an away-swinger that took the edge of latter’s bat and went to the wicketkeeper. Curran then made a delivery swing back into the right-handed Kaushal Silva and trapped him in front of the wicket. England gained the momentum initially as both the Lankan openers were dismissed cheaply.

Ben Stokes bowled a few overs with the older ball but did not look threatening enough in the first innings. Stokes typically hits the deck hard and the surface was not very suitable for such kind of bowling on the second day.

Anderson and Curran, on the other hand, are swing bowlers predominantly and therefore, would have a chance of being more successful in Sri Lanka, especially with the new ball. Anderson bowled some absolute peach with the old ball in the second innings and was unlucky to go wicketless.

However, Stokes looked to be more effective in the second innings of Sri Lanka as his hit-the-deck seam bowling was more suitable on a deteriorating pitch. England do look like a complete bowling unit now and Sri Lankan batsmen would not find it easy to deal with them in this series.