Alex Hales is hopeful England can take their score past 450 on day two of the second Investec Test and pile the pressure on Sri Lanka.
Hales, as he did in the opener at Headingley, led from the front after England won the toss and decided to bat at Chester-le-Street, top-scoring with 83 as the hosts ended the first day on 310 for six.
Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes are the unbeaten batsmen on 28 and eight respectively and with Stuart Broad, as well as Steven Finn and James Anderson, still to come, Hales believes 450 is an achievable target.
"We probably just had the better of day one." Hales told Sky Sports.
"There's been a little bit of up and down bounce which is a good sign for us winning the toss and batting.
"The first session tomorrow is going to be important. If we can get a couple of good partnerships, it should hopefully get us to around 450 which is a good score.
"Woakesy is in the form of his life coming off a big hundred for Warwickshire and Mo looks in good touch as well. The first hour is going to be crucial. If we can get through that without losing any scalps, hopefully we can push on to that 450."
Hales endured a tough baptism in Test cricket opening the batting against a strong South Africa bowling attack in the winter but back-to-back half-centuries at the start of the English summer suggest he is finding his feet.
The next step for the Nottinghamshire batsman is to register his first Test ton after two near misses.
"It was annoying to get out in the 80s again," Hales added.
"I'd done all the hard work again and probably tried to hit that ball too hard but fair play to Angelo (Mathews), it was a great catch. It was one of those ones where my eyes lit up.
"As an opener it's going to be different each game. There's going to be times where the pitch is good and you get off to a good start with the gaps there are in the field. Then there's going to be times when they bowl well and you have to rein yourself in. I just want to be able to adjust to what the bowlers are doing and find my tempo that way.
"I feel in good touch. I learned a lot from South Africa and I've worked hard in the month leading up to this Test series on a few things.
"I feel confident heading into the second innings and hopefully the rest of the summer."
Joe Root contributed 80 and Jonny Bairstow continued his excellent form with 48 but captain Alastair Cook is five runs shy of 10,000 in Test cricket after making just 15.
Nuwan Pradeep impressed for Sri Lanka with three for 69 while Milinda Siriwardana took two for 35 with his left-arm spin.
Siriwardana, who was not selected for the first Test, has backed Sri Lanka to improve on their dismal showing with the bat at Headingley, where they registered just 91 and 119.
"It was a tough wicket to bat on (at Leeds) - it was moving around - but this one is a very good wicket to bat on and the conditions are really good," he said.
Source: PA
