England to bat in second test against Sri Lanka

Britain Cricket - England v Sri Lanka - Second Test - Emirates Durham ICG - 27/5/16 England's Alastair Cook leads out the side Action Images via Reuters / Jason Cairnduff Livepic

LONDON (Reuters) - England won the toss and decided to bat on the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka at Durham, on Friday.

That gave their captain and opening batsman Alastair Cook an early opportunity to score the 20 runs he needs to become the first England batsman to reach 10,000 runs in test cricket.

England made one change after winning the first test of the three-match series by an innings, bringing in all-rounder Chris Woakes for injured local hero Ben Stokes.

Sri Lanka made two changes. Milinda Siriwardana and Suranga Lakmal replaced Dasun Shakana and Chameera Dushmantha.

"It's going to be hard work for both batting sides," Cook told Sky Sports. "It's going to be cloudy for the whole game."

"This is a new game for us," said Sri Lanka captain Angelo Matthews. "It's not a bad toss to lose."

(Reporting by Steve Tongue; Editing by Amlan Chakrborty)