Sri Lanka vice captain Kumar Sangakkara reflected on a 'tough' first day after his side were bowled out for 188 against England in Kandy.

Sangakkara made 92 and shared a 106-run, sixth-wicket partnership with Prasanna Jayawardene to rescue the hosts from 42-5 on the opening day of the series.

Sri Lanka had opted to bat first on a slow wicket but were undone by Matthew Hoggard, who claimed four wickets during his opening spell.

Sangakkara felt the pitch was blameless and instead gave credit to Hoggard for his expert use of the new ball.

"I think the wicket was very good," Sangakkara told us.

"Hoggy bowled quite well at the start, he put the ball in the right areas and got it moving just enough to take the outside edge.

"I reckon we probably could have got our individual game-plans a bit better.

"But that's the way the game goes - we have to learn from this and move on quickly and make sure we bowl England out for as few as possible."

On his own contribution, he added: "It was a bit disappointing the way I got out in the end but I was pretty happy with the effort I managed to put in there."

England reached 49-1 in reply by the close and have the opportunity to take control of the game with a solid batting performance on the second day.

But Sangakkara remains positive that Sri Lanka can play themselves back in the match, particularly as the pitch is expected to increasingly assist Muttiah Muralitharan as the game progresses.

"We always look at things in a positive way, but we accept the fact that there are going to be times when things are tough, like today was," he said.

"The best way to get out of it is to put your hand up and take responsibility by going out there and performing - that's the way we look at it as a team.

"As long as the guys show enough character to rebuild in our second innings, and the innings that we're bowling in, then I think we'll be okay.

"I think it will turn progressively more. Murali was right in it during the three overs he bowled today.

"We will look to create pressure, make sure the runs are kept down from one end and let Murali loose to see what he gets us."