Josh Hull steps in for injured Mark Wood for remainder of Test series against Sri Lanka

Manchester [UK]: The ICC has announced that uncapped English fast bowler Josh Hull will be stepping in for Mark Wood in the last two Test matches of the series against Sri Lanka. This decision comes after the 34-year-old experienced a right thigh muscle strain while bowling in the second innings of the Manchester Test.

Hull is a left-arm seamer, who recently featured in the England Lions fixture against Sri Lanka, and picked up five wickets at an average of 14.8.

Wood had an exceptional start to his spell in the second inning, getting the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne off his first ball, but pulled out of his run-up in the 56th over, and left the field. He didn't bowl again in the game, which England eventually won by five wickets.

Recapping the first match of the series, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake that pushed SL to 236/10.Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir were the top bowlers for England.

Despite a poor start and a tricky score of 67/3, fine performances from middle-order batters Joe Root , Harry Brook , and centurion Jamie Smith helped England attain a lead of 122 runs as they were bundled out for 358 runs.

Ashitha Fernando and Prabhat Jayasuriya delivered fine spells for Sri Lanka.

In their second innings, SL once again found themselves in a troublesome position, with the score reading 95/4. However, veterans Angelo Matthews , and Dinesh Chandimal formed a 78-run partnership to push SL towards a lead. Later, keeping his fine form, Kamindu Mendis slammed his second Test ton in five innings, scoring 113 in 183 balls, with 15 fours and a six. SL put up a total of 326/10, giving them a respectable lead of 204 runs.Woakes and Matthew Potts took three wickets each to lead England's bowling charts.

In reply, England was in a tight position at 70/3. However, Root's calm and composed half-century and solid contributions from Brook and Smith took England to a five-wicket win.

England took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

England squad: Ollie Pope , Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

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