Sri Lanka sends England in to bat in 1st test

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews won the toss and chose to bowl first in the opening test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.

England named three debutants, opening batsman Sam Robson, batsman Moeen Ali and bowler Chris Jordan. Liam Plunkett was also named in the bowling attack after a seven year absence from the test side and Gary Ballance moved up to third in the batting order, with Ian Bell at fourth.

Mathews sent England into bat on a green wicket, hoping pacemen Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep and Rangana Herath can exploit the conditions to put pressure on the new-look England batting order.

The teams

ENGLAND Alistair Cook (captain), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior, Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson.

SRI LANKA Kaushal Silva, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Angelo Mathews (captain), Prasanna Jayawrdene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Shaminda Eranga, Nuwan Pradeep.