ENG vs SL: Mark Wood to skip Day 4 after sustaining right thigh injury

England pacer Mark Wood injured his right thigh towards the fag end of Day 3 of the first Test against Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford. Following this, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that the player wouldn’t take the field on Day 4 as the team doctor is keeping a close eye on his development. 

In the first innings of the match, the 34-year-old bowled just eight overs and picked up the wicket of Kusal Mendis. In the second innings, he started well and bowled 10 overs and picked up the wicket of opener Dimuth Karunaratne but during his 11th over, the pacer injured himself and hobbled off the field. Mark Wood probably will not be available for the remainder of the Sri Lanka series due to the injury. 

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Joe Root replaced him for the final four deliveries of his over and interestingly, he picked up the wicket of Milan Rathnayake in his second bowl. The Sri Lanka international departed for 10 runs as Sri Lanka’s worries intensified. They were bowled out for 236 runs in the first innings and after which, England took a massive lead of 122 runs.

The visitors started well with the ball as the Three Lions were reduced to 125/4 at one stage. However, Jamie Smith played a brilliant knock and registered his maiden century as England posted 358 runs. Harry Brook played an important knock of 56 runs, while Joe Root made 42 runs in the first innings.

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Sri Lanka once again had a shaky start in the second innings. They lost the wickets of Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis for one run after which, Angelo Mathews took control of the situation and made 65 runs. Later, Kamindu Mendis hit a half-century and made 56* runs on Day 3 and will be hoping to convert that to a century on Day 4. 

The Dhananjaya de Silva-led side made 204/6 on Day 3 and are leading by 82 runs. If they manage to post a good target on board, Sri Lanka can dream of winning it but things look difficult at the moment for them.