Sri Lanka hanging on in first test after Jamie Smith's century leaves England in command

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Sri Lanka was battling to stay alive in the first test against England following another top-order collapse after wicketkeeper Jamie Smith's maiden century put the hosts in command at Old Trafford on Friday.

Smith's 111 helped England to 358 all out and a first-innings lead of 122 early on Day 3, and it looked like the Sri Lankans might be headed for a big defeat after slumping to 1-2 when Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis were dismissed for ducks before lunch.

Angelo Mathews dug in to make 65 and Kamindu Mendis was 56 not out at stumps as Sri Lanka reached 204-6, with a lead of 82.

Dinesh Chandimal was there at the close on 20 not out, having returned to the middle after a trip to the hospital after being rapped on the right thumb off a rapid delivery by Mark Wood.

One more wicket would put the English into Sri Lanka's tail in Manchester and they are big favorites to take the lead in the three-match series.

England also looks to have a gem in the 24-year-old Smith, who was chosen ahead of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow to keep wicket for this international summer and hasn’t let his country down, impressing behind the stumps and with the bat. He struck knocks of 70 and 95 in England’s 3-0 test series win over the West Indies last month and now has a century in his fourth test match.

“Missing out last time against the West Indies, it was a little bit more special to get over the line,” Smith said of his ton. “It's something you always dream of and wish for growing up. It is a nice one to tick off.”

Smith's century contained eight fours and one six as he guided the tail through to a strong total, considering England was 67-3 at one point on Thursday. Gus Atkinson (20), Matthew Potts (17) and Mark Wood (22) weighed in with important contributions in the lower order, while Asitha Fernando finished with team-best bowling figures of 4-103.

Sri Lanka had slumped to 6-3 at the start of its first innings and didn’t begin its second innings any better following the departures of Madushka and Mendis in Sri Lanka's three overs in the middle before lunch.

Dimuth Karunaratne was the first to go in the second session when he was outdone by the pace of Wood — off his very first ball — and nicked an inside edge onto his body and up to Harry Brook at second slip for 27.

Chandimal looked in pain after his thumb was snapped back by Wood’s sharp delivery and, after some treatment, went to the hospital for an X-ray. It revealed no fracture and he would eventually return.

Mathews played beautifully as he often does in tests with England, an opponent against whom he now has 10 scores of 50 or more in 23 innings. And he put on 78 with Kamindu Mendis for the fifth wicket before looping a leading edge to midwicket off Chris Woakes.

In the final hour, Wood pulled up with an unspecified injury during his run-up and part-time spinner Joe Root completed the final four deliveries of the over. He took a wicket with one of them as Milan Rathnayake was tempted in to a big drive and holed out to Ben Duckett in the deep for 10.

That brought Chandimal back and he survived until the close, hitting Shoaib Bashir for 4 off the final ball as shadows lengthened at Old Trafford.

“Both sides have toiled on a good surface," Smith said, "but to have them six down there ... you can't ask for much more than that heading into tomorrow.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

England's Chris Woakes, left, celebrates taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Sri Lanka's Dimuth Karunaratne, left, leaves the pitch after being caught by England's Harry Brook bowled by Mark Wood, center, on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal bats on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal, center, leaves the field after picking up an injury on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendi bats on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis, left, celebrates his half-century with Milan Rathnayake on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Chris Woakes, center, celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Nishan Madushka on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Jamie Smith, left, and Gus Atkinson in action as Sri Lanka's Asitha Fernando, centre, watches on during day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Thursday Aug. 22, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Gus Atkinson, right, in action during day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Thursday Aug. 22, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Matthew Potts is caught out by Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis to end England's first innings on day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Chris Woakes, second left, celebrates the wicket of Sri Lanka's Nishan Madushka, not pictured, during day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Thursday Aug. 22, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Jamie Smith, right, in action during day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Thursday Aug. 22, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

England's Jamie Smith celebrates after reaching 100 runs and his first Test hundred during day three of the First Test match between England and Sri Lanka at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Thursday Aug. 22, 2024. (Nick Potts/PA via AP)

BOSTON (AP) — A study that explores the feasibility of using pigeons to guide missiles and one that looks at the swimming abilities of dead fish were among the winners Thursday of this year’s Ig Nobels, the prize for comical scientific achievement.

Held less than a month before the actual Nobel Prizes are announced, the 34th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine’s website to make people laugh and think. Winners received a transparent box containing historic items related to Murphy’s Law — the theme of the night — and a nearly worthless Zimbabwean $10 trillion bill. Actual Nobel laureates handed the winners their prizes.

“While some politicians were trying to make sensible things sound crazy, scientists discovered some crazy-sounding things that make a lot of sense,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an e-mail interview.

The ceremony started with Kees Moliker, winner of 2003 Ig Noble for biology, giving out safety instructions. His prize was for a study that documented the existence of homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks.

“This is the duck,” he said, holding up a duck. “This is the dead one.”

After that, someone came on stage wearing a yellow target on their chest and a plastic face mask. Soon, they were inundated with people in the audience throwing paper airplanes at them.

Then, the awards began — several dry presentations which were interrupted by a girl coming on stage and repeatedly yelling “Please stop. I'm bored.” The awards ceremony was also was broken up by an international song competition inspired by Murphy's Law, including one about coleslaw and another about the legal system.

The winners were honored in 10 categories, including for peace and anatomy. Among them were scientists who showed a vine from Chile imitates the shapes of artificial plants nearby and another study that examined whether the hair on people's heads in the Northern Hemisphere swirled in the same direction as someone's hair in the Southern Hemisphere.

Other winners include a group of scientists who showed that fake medicine that causes side effects can be more effective than fake medicine that doesn't cause side effects and one showing that some mammals are cable of breathing through their anus — winners who came on stage wearing a fish-inspired hats.

Julie Skinner Vargas accepted the peace prize on behalf of her late father B.F. Skinner, who wrote the pigeon-missile study. Skinner Vargas is also the head of the B.F. Skinner Foundation.

“I want to thank you for finally acknowledging his most important contribution,” she said. “Thank you for putting the record straight.”

James Liao, a biology professor at the University of Florida, accepted the physics prize for his study demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout.

“I discovered that a live fish moved more than a dead fish but not by much,” Liao said, holding up a fake fish. “A dead trout towed behind a stick also flaps its tail to the beat of the current like a live fish surfing on swirling eddies, recapturing the energy in its environment. A dead fish does live fish things.”

Professor James Liao displays a stuffed fish while accepting a prize for physics for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A team of researchers perform a demonstration during a performance showing that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus while accepting the 2024 Ig Nobel prize in physiology at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

People in the audience throw paper airplanes toward the stage during a performance at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

FILE - Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge, Mass, April 3, 2017. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)