England take upper hand on first day

Captain Andrew Flintoff produced a brutal display of bowling to give England the upper hand after the opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka on Friday.

The giant all-rounder, bowling just back of a length and hitting speeds of more than 91mph, took the big wickets of Kumar Sangakkara 36, Mahela Jayawardene 0 and Sanath Jayasuriya 4 as Sri Lanka were dismissed for 231.

England, then lost both openers cheaply to close on 53 for two.

Flintoff8217;s muscular intervention sparked a top-order batting collapse just before lunch, three wickets falling for two runs in three overs.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 231 Vaas 38 Muralitharan 33, Flintoff 3-52, J Lewis 3-68 vs England 53 for 2 Cook 12 batting, Pietersen 6 batting.