The ongoing first Test between England and Sri Lanka in Manchester saw some riveting action both on the field and off the field.
Sri Lanka choosing to bat first were reduced to 92/6, but thanks to a captain’s knock of 74 by Dhananjaya de Silva and 72 from Milan Ratnayake, Sri Lanka posted 236 runs. Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir picked three wickets each for England.
Then in response, England hammered 358 runs to take a 122-run lead in the first innings. While Harry Brook made 56, keeper Jamie Smith continued his golden run in Tests by hitting his maiden century, scoring 111 runs.
Asitha Fernando picked four wickets, while Prabath Jayasuriya picked three scalps for Sri Lanka.
During the England batting, in the 83rd over, Asitha Fernando bowled a short ball to Mark Wood, who swatted the ball for a huge six, sending the cherry into the crowd. However, a fan, holding a beer in his left hand, casually put his right hand up and caught the ball nonchalantly.
This led to England coach Paul Collingwood turning his head towards Marcus Trescothick in amazement and gesturing that the fan had a pint in his hand.
Check here:
However, this was not the only fan moment in the day’s play. The doppelganger of England captain Ben Stokes, was also seen in attendance. The same one who also marked his very first appearance during England's Test series against the West Indies.
The camera picked the Stokes doppelganger in the crowd, who showed a thumbs up, immediately the camera panned towards Stokes, who has been ruled out of the series with a torn hamstring. Stokes reacted with a thumbs-up of his own.
The doppelganger then removed his jacket and showed that he was wearing the England Test jersey with Stokes’ name and number on it.
Here is the video:
At tea, Sri Lanka had made 107/4 in their second innings with Angelo Mathews batting on 48 and Kamindu Mendis on 11*. Sri Lanka still trails England by 15 runs.
