Cook and Trescothick shone in a fine second-wicket partnership

England dominated the opening day of the Test series against Sri Lanka as left-handers Marcus Trescothick and Alastair Cook led them to 318-3.

Trescothick hit 106 in his first Test this year and Cook, in his maiden England appearance at home, made 89.

With Kevin Pietersen unbeaten on 54 and Andrew Flintoff still to bat, Sri Lanka are primed for another tough day.

Muttiah Muralitharan claimed two wickets and Sri Lanka were unfortunate to see three good lbw appeals rejected.

But they only had themselves to blame when Pietersen was caught in the covers off a Farveez Maharoof no-ball just before stumps.

I watched the guys on TV in India really made me hungry to come back and play well again Marcus Trescothick England quotes Sri Lanka quotes

England handed a debut to Sajid Mahmood when Andrew Flintoff called correctly on a bright, warm morning in north London and opted to bat first.

They also selected slow bowler Monty Panesar, sending Ian Bell and Jon Lewis back to their respective counties.

Sri Lanka gave teenage middle order batsman Chamara Kapugedera his first cap, and sprang a surprise by preferring Jehan Mubarak to Michael Vandort as one of their openers.

There was some encouraging movement early on for new-ball bowlers Maharoof and Chaminda Vaas.

But after one or two early scares - Vaas's second over to Trescothick was particularly testing - the left-handers settled into their work and hit some fine boundaries across a bright green but fast outfield.

Maharoof came in for the most punishment - in his fifth over, Strauss played a fine on-drive and then leant back to stroke him effortlessly through the covers for four more.

Well done on a great century, Trescothick - good to have you back From BB Have your say on TMS

After a five-over spell from the third seamer, Nuwan Kulasekara, Muralitharan was introduced with 20 minutes to go before lunch.

The crowd and the fielders inevitably perked up and in his second over he nearly gave the tourists a massive boost when appealing for lbw against Trescothick with the batsman on 28.

But South African umpire Rudi Koertzen ruled not out despite replays showing the ball had straightened on the batsman after pitching - in other words, it was Murali's mystery 'doosra'.

England looked set to go into lunch unscathed but Murali made the breakthrough when an off-break glanced off Strauss's defensive prod for the man at slip, Mahela Jayawardene, to take a fine diving catch.

Andrew Strauss looked solid until Muralitharan entered the attack

After that wicket had fallen with the total on 86, the middle session was all England, featuring the bulk of the 127 runs provided by the Trescothick-Cook stand.

Cook got going with two neat leg-glances for four off Vaas, before allowing his more experienced partner to dominate the scoring.

A slog sweep off Muralitharan brought Trescothick his fifty and he also played some fine shots off Maharoof.

As tea approached though, England's batsmen enjoyed two further let-offs off Murali.

Cook was missed at slip and Trescothick, on 85, was again given the benefit of the doubt after an lbw appeal that was almost a carbon copy of the one just before lunch.

The Somerset man moved into the nineties with a couple of confident fours off the second spinner, Tillakaratne Dilshan.

After tea, he reached his century, only his second in a Lord's Test, with a single off Muralitharan, but was out soon afterwards.

Muralitharan impressed despite some bad luck with lbw appeals

Just like with the Strauss dismissal, it was a catch by Jaywardene at slip off Murali which ended his 180-ball innings.

Pietersen announced his arrival with an off-drive for four but for the third time a Sri Lankan bowler was denied an excellent lbw appeal when Aleem Dar declined a Vaas appeal against the Hampshire batsman.

The rest of the evening session featured some superbly timed drives from Cook and some more brutal ones from Pietersen.

Sri Lanka did take the second new ball, but Maharoof and Kulasekara were found wanting as the runs kept flowing.

Finally, following a stand of 99, Cook lost concentration and wafted at a ball outside off-stump to edge Maharoof behind.