June 18, 2023 
By India Today Sports Desk: Kumar Sangakkara feels that England have the edge in the first Ashes 2023 Test in Edgbaston after Australia were bowled out for 386 in their first innings on Sunday.
Australia had started the day on 311 for five, thanks to Usman Khawaja's hundred and he had Alex Carey for company. The duo added 27 more runs before James Anderson cleaned up the wicketkeeper to claim his 1100th first-class wicket.
Khawaja was joined by Pat Cummins in the middle and the duo added more to the scoreboard before the opener was undone by a brilliant yorker by Ollie Robinson as Ben Stokes went with an attacking field.
The Australian innings would then go from 372 for seven to 386 all out with England taking a seven-run lead.
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Speaking at the lunchtime break to Sky Sports, Sangakkara said that he felt England had the edge given the collapse Australia had in the end and hailed the captaincy by Stokes. The former Sri Lankan captain also predicted that England could go for an aggressive approach and a quick declaration.
"It is set up wonderfully and there will be an exciting two sessions from here. I think it is pretty even but the way the innings ended I would give England [the edge]. The thinking was brilliant, the captaincy was brilliant.
"England are not going to settle for draws and now it will be if they can dominate with the bat after lunch. An aggressive declaration may come."
Sangakkara went on to praise Stokes' captaincy for the fields he was setting on the day.
"This is where England are ahead, especially Stokes. He understood singles wouldn’t matter to the tailenders, they were going to come out swinging. The fields were really well set to create those chances, showing the Australians they needed to take chances," said Sangakkara.
July 20, 2024 
