Eoin Morgan believes he showed signs he was adapting to life as a Test cricketer after helping England out of early trouble in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's.

Morgan has been lauded for his performances in the limited overs arena but, after only winning himself a place in the Test side for this series, still has some question marks over his five-day career.

The Irishman went some way to convincing any doubters yesterday though as he produced a responsible innings of 79 after he had walked to the crease with his side 130 for four.

"It was an in-between position (when he came in to bat). But I stuck with my natural game, I tried to be positive, especially against the spinners," he said.

"The ball did nip around a little in the morning so I had to be watchful there at the start.

"I looked to pace myself and get myself in.

"It gets easier as you get in and then I tried to be positive once I was in.

"It is my game in one-day cricket and I'm trying to adapt it to Test cricket."

Morgan combined with Alastair Cook to put on 171 for the fifth wicket as England took back control of the opening day.

Cook fell four runs short of his century and while Morgan also departed in the final session, Matt Prior's brisk unbeaten 73 helped them reach the close on 342 for six.

"To go out and bat the way we did and be positive towards the end, it leaves us in a good position for tomorrow," Morgan added.

"The pitch is a lot slower than we thought, so there is a lot of hard work ahead of us."

Sri Lanka batting coach Marvan Atapattu felt inexperience was to blame as their bowlers let the game slip away after their strong start.

"Up until tea I thought it was our day, but them getting 170 over 36 overs was not so good," he said.

"There was a lack of discipline, a lack of experience - a lot of our bowlers are in their early days in Test cricket.

"I'm sure they'll put it right having seen videos of their bowling this evening."