Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the in-form Kamindu Mendis annoyed England with a unbroken century partnership on the second day of the third Take a look at on the Oval on Saturday.
The vacationers collapsed to 93-5 earlier than tea, however had recovered to 211-5 when dangerous mild pressured an early shut.
That left Sri Lanka 114 runs adrift of an England first-innings complete of 325 constructed on Ollie Pope’s 154 — his first century as England captain.
De Silva was 64 not out and Kamindu Mendis 54 not out in an undefeated stand of 118 as Sri Lanka regarded to salvage some pleasure at 2-0 down in a three-match sequence.
For left-handed batsman Mendis, presently boasting a staggeringly excessive Take a look at batting common of over 85, this was the seventh time in six matches at this stage the 25-year-old had handed 50 — a run that additionally contains three centuries.
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De Silva, nonetheless, ought to have been out for 23 however Take a look at debutant Josh Hull dropped a easy catch at mid-on, the ball bursting by means of the towering quick bowler’s large palms following a miscued drive off spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Sri Lanka had gifted England an early breakthrough when Dimuth Karunaratne (9) was run out by Olly Stone’s direct hit from quick cowl after Pathum Nissanka set off for a non-existent single.
Nissanka accomplished a high-quality fifty when he punched the 20-year-old Hull for 4 by means of mid-off, his seventh boundary in 40 balls.
Nevertheless it was not lengthy earlier than the collapse continued.
Stone, in simply his second Take a look at in three years after the injury-plagued paceman returned in England’s 190-run win at Lord’s final week, had veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews (three) edging to Pope within the gully.
Hull strikes
The 6ft 7 inch (2 metres) tall Hull then took his first wicket in Take a look at cricket, the left-arm fast eradicating Nissanka for 64 when the opener’s drive was effectively caught by a diving Woakes at cowl.
And 91-4 turned 93-5 when Stone had Dinesh Chandimal lbw for a duck.
Kamindu Mendis once more got here in at No 7 after Sri Lanka determined in opposition to selling him up the order and he as soon as extra remained calm in a disaster.
Beneath an more and more gloomy sky, England bowled spin from each ends instantly after tea, Bashir and part-time bowler Dan Lawrence working in tandem, moderately than danger the umpires halting the match for dangerous mild.
De Silva celebrated his reprieve by late-cutting Lawrence for 4 to finish an 81-ball fifty, whereas the trendy Kamindu Mendis reached the landmark in a mere 60 balls.
Joe Root was additionally given a few overs together with his occasional off-breaks, earlier than dangerous mild ended play for the day with Sri Lanka having scored 69 runs with out loss in 17 overs of all spin bowling after tea.
Earlier, England misplaced their final six wickets for 35 runs after resuming on 221-3.
Firstly of the day, Pope was 103 not out, after managing a mere 30 runs in 4 earlier innings since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as skipper at the beginning of this sequence.
Sri Lanka’s wayward four-man tempo assault had did not take advantage of overcast situations and a green-tinged pitch after De Silva received the toss.
Their efficiency improved on Saturday, quick bowler Milan Rathnayake ending with 3-56 in 13.1 overs.
Left-arm fast Vishwa Fernando eliminated Pope when the 26-year-old hooked to deep sq. leg to finish a 156-ball innings together with 19 fours and two sixes.
His exit nonetheless left Pope with a colossal first-class common of over 84 on his Surrey residence floor.
England, which whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier this season, are chasing its first residence Take a look at clear sweep since 2004, when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins.