Debutant Lewis happy with display

Lewis found good control on his Test debut

Debutant Jon Lewis was delighted with his 3-68 in Sri Lanka's first innings and confident England had not let the visitors off the hook at Trent Bridge.

Sri Lanka were 139-8 at one stage on day one of the third Test but managed to build a total of 231.

"I've played a long time in first-class cricket waiting to play for England so today was a great day," said Lewis.

"It's good when the opposition tail wags because that means it's a pretty flat deck. We'll take 231."

Lewis got a wicket in his first over, bowling Michael Vandort with an inswinger, and followed up with the dismissals of Tillakaratne Dilshan and Lasith Malinga.

And Lewis added: "I really enjoyed myself. I was wondering where the first ball was going to go but luckily I got a wicket in my first over to calm the nerves.

"We saw there's a bit of a weakness for Vandort with the inswinging delivery. I played against him for England A at Worcester and got him out a couple of times in a similar sort of way.

We haven't been patient enough and got used to the conditions Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara

"Andrew Flintoff bowled very fast and they didn't seem to like it too much and he came up trumps when we really needed it."

In addition, Lewis insisted there was a place for himself and Matthew Hoggard in the England team, despite some commentators suggesting they might be too similar.

"Me and Hoggy are similar but we're not the same by any means," said Lewis.

"Matthew's a little more round arm than me, although we do both take the ball away. We've got a lot of things we do differently - why can't we play together?"

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara said his side were still very much in the match, especially after reducing England to 53-2 before the close.

"The guys are still keen to make a contest out of it and if we can keep England to below our score or just beyond it, we've got a great chance," he said.

"Malinga's always got a chance on a wicket like that, (Chaminda) Vaas' doing great things with the ball - and we've got Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan)."

However, Sangakkara conceded that Sri Lanka should have scored far more runs in their first innings.

"There were no terrors in the wicket and having reached 81-1 10 minutes before lunch I was hoping for something beyond 300," he added.

"Our attitude is to look to score and get on with the game but we haven't been patient enough and got used to the conditions.

"It's about identifying those critical periods in an innings when a wicket falls or when the ball's doing a bit and withdrawing into a zone where the focus is getting through those tough periods."