England all-rounder Ben Stokes on track to recover from hamstring injury: Report

Ben Stokes. Pic/AFP

England all-rounder Ben Stokes is on track to recover from the hamstring injury that he sustained before the two-match series against Sri Lanka, according to a report from ESPNcricinfo.

A tear in his left hamstring, sustained during The Hundred ruled Stokes out for the remainder of the English summer. Consequently, he will miss the two-match series against Sri Lanka. England opted not to name a replacement for Stokes in their squad for the Sri Lanka series. In his absence, Ollie Pope will serve as the captain of the Test team.

As per the report, Stokes will play the role of an all-rounder in England's Test series against Pakistan in October.

The Three Lions will be on a tour of Pakistan in October. The first Test will be played on October 7. While the second and third will be on October 15 and October 24, respectively.

Ahead of England's second Test against Sri Lanka, the stand-in skipper Ollie Pope said that "injuries are never ideal". He added that the Stokes will be "fresh as anyone" during England's Test series against Pakistan.

"Injuries are never ideal, but they're also great chances for people to keep improving their game and have a little bit of time of reflection and think about what he can work on in his game. I'm sure that's exactly what he's doing in the nets. Going into that Pakistan series and then into New Zealand, he's going to be as fresh as anyone," Pope was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

Recapping the first match of the series, SL won the toss and opted to bat first. Struggling at 113/7, it was the knocks from skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Milan Rathnayake that propelled SL to 236/10.

Chris Woakes (3/32) and Shoaib Bashir (3/55) 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 (4/103) and Prabhat Jayasuriya (3/85) 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 (3/47) 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.

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