England Cricket / Andrew Hughes / 26 May 2011 /

It was a rain affected first day in Cardiff, the tourists are on top but England did well to get themselves back into the game.

England's Test match summer got off to a slow start. Kicking their heels until 3:30 while the rain fell, they struggled against the battling Sri Lankan openers and were at one point staring down the barrel on a pitch that looks just as flat as the one on which Australia piled up 674 two years ago. The rain and the realisation that this was a docile Cardiff pitch ensured that the draw price crept down steadily all day and is currently at [1.83] Punters clearly underestimated the Sri Lankans, who at one point touched [10.5] but that began to tumble as soon as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Tharanga Paranavitana started to go about their business.

But England stuck at it and got some reward in the long evening session, removing two of the three big guns, Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara. That said, England's price of [3.2] is too short. Sri Lanka are still in the best position, they have two spinners, three if you include Dilshan and they are batting first on a pitch that is starting to show signs of deterioration. At this stage, the best play is still a Sri Lankan win and that they are [7.0] is quite a surprise. England had to toil hard for their two successes today and they still have a lot of hard work in front of them.

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