Il Nuovo Postiglione - England maintain grip on first Test after Sri Lanka skipper De Silva departs

Sri Lanka were still struggling at 178-8 come the interval but it represented a huge recovery given they had slumped to 6-3 soon after De Silva won the toss in the first of this three-match series.

But De Silva responded with a fine 74 and received excellent support from debutant fast bowler Milan Rathnayake (32 not out) in an eighth-wicket partnership of 63.

No other Sri Lanka batsman, however, had yet made more than Kusal Mendis's attractive 24.

De Silva's impressive innings ended when he turned a quicker ball from off-spinner Shoaib Bashir straight into the hands of Dan Lawrence at leg slip.

Bashir had tea figures of 2-31 in 12 overs after Chris Woakes (3-32 in 11) had done much of the initial damage.

Sri Lanka had previously lost three wickets for no runs in 10 balls as they slumped to 6-3 in a dream start for stand-in England captain Ollie Pope, leading his country for the first time after Ben Stokes was ruled out with a torn hamstring.

They came into their first Test in England in eight years on the back of just a solitary warm-up game -- a defeat by the second-string England Lions.

Sri Lanka's collapse started in the sixth over when Dimuth Karunaratne top-edged a hook off fast bowler Gus Atkinson to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.

Woakes then took two wickets in the next over, with Nishan Madushka, the other opening batsman, driving loosely at an outswinger and edging to Joe Root at first slip as he fell for four.

- Mathews out for nought -

Five balls later, worse followed for Sri Lanka when Angelo Mathews was plumb lbw for a duck to Woakes playing no shot to a ball that nipped back off the pitch.

Mendis struck four fours, the best a cover-drive off fast bowler Matthew Potts -- recalled in place of Stokes.

But he was undone by express fast bowler Mark Wood, with Mendis gloving a superb 93 mph (150 km/h) delivery that reared up from short of a length to second slip.

Sri Lanka's plight was compounded shortly before lunch when Dinesh Chandimal was lbw for 17 to a Bashir ball that hardly bounced.

De Silva, however, pulled Atkinson for a commanding four and completed an impressively quick fifty off just 56 balls.

He was given a reprieve on 65 when Smith missed a difficult stumping chance off Bashir -- arguably the wicketkeeper's first major error behind the stumps in four Tests since his debut against the West Indies last month.

Before play started there was a minute's applause in honour of Graham Thorpe, the former England batsman and assistant coach, with both teams, as well as the match officials, wearing black armbands in his honour.

Thorpe died aged 55 earlier this month after being hit by a train. His wife Amanda confirmed he had taken his own life having suffered from depression for several years.

E.Scozzafava--INP