Resilient Silva helps Sri Lanka gain lead of 46

PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka, (Reuters) Roshen Silva struck a combative fifty and expertly guided Sri Lanka’s lower order to help the hosts gain a first-innings lead of 46 against England on the second day of the second test yesterday.

The hosts were handed a five-run penalty in a bizarre incident during the final session, after the match officials ruled Sri Lanka’s batsmen to have breached the law governing deliberate short runs. It took England’s total to 290.

In reply, Sri Lanka were all out for 336 shortly before the close of play with Silva’s 85 being the highlight of their innings.

England’s Jack Leach and Rory Burns were both unbeaten on nought, safely negotiating the one over they had to face before stumps were drawn.

Sri Lanka, trailing 1-0 in the three-test series after last week’s loss in Galle, added 171 for their last four wickets to take a crucial lead, which had looked unlikely at one stage.

After resuming on 26-1, they lost nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara in the third over to a poor shot.

That dismissal brought opener Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva together, and the duo built a stand of 96 through some smart batting with England’s bowlers looking bereft of ideas as the partnership grew.

All-rounder Ben Stokes then stole the show with two brilliant efforts in the field to help England break through Sri Lanka’s resilience with a brace of wickets shortly before the lunch break. England 1st innings Rory Burns c Dhananjaya de Silva b Akila Dananjaya Keaton Jennings c Niroshan Dickwella b Suranga Lakmal 1 Ben Stokes lbw Dilruwan Perera 19 Joe Root b Malinda Pushpakumara 14 Jos Buttler c Dimuth Karunaratne b Malinda Pushpakumara 63 Moeen Ali lbw Malinda Pushpakumara 10 Ben Foakes c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dilruwan Perera Sam Curran c Dimuth Karunaratne b Dilruwan Perera 64 Adil Rashid lbw Dilruwan Perera 31 Jack Leach b Akila Dananjaya 7 James Anderson Not Out 7 Extras 4b 3lb 0nb 5pen 0w 12 Total (75.4 overs) 290 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-7 Jennings, 2-44 Stokes, 3-65 Root, 4-89 Burns, 5-134 Ali, 6-165 Foakes, 7-171 Buttler, 8-216 Rashid, 9-225 Leach, 10-285 Curran Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Suranga Lakmal 12 1 44 1 3.67 Dilruwan Perera 24.4 5 61 4 2.47 Malinda Pushpakumara 23 4 89 3 3.87 Dhananjaya de Silva 2 0 4 0 2.00 Akila Dananjaya 14 1 80 2 5.71

Sri Lanka 1st innings Dimuth Karunaratne Run Out Ben Stokes Kaushal Silva b Jack Leach Malinda Pushpakumara c Rory Burns b Moeen Ali Dhananjaya de Silva c Ben Foakes b Adil 43 19 63 6

4 Rashid Kusal Mendis c Ben Stokes b Jack Leach Angelo Mathews c Ben Foakes b Adil Rashid Roshen Silva c Moeen Ali b Adil Rashid Niroshan Dickwella lbw Joe Root Dilruwan Perera lbw Jack Leach Akila Dananjaya lbw Moeen Ali Suranga Lakmal Not Out 15 Extras 6b 6lb 0nb 0pen 0w Total (103.0 overs) 336 all out Fall of Wickets : 1-22 Silva, 2-31 Pushpakumara, 3-127 Karunaratne, 4-136 Mendis, 5-146 de Silva, 6-165 Mathews, 7-211 Dickwella, 8-252 Perera, 9-308 Perera, 10-336 Silva Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex James Anderson 14 2 40 0 2.86 Sam Curran 4 0 19 0 4.75 Jack Leach 29 5 70 3 2.41 Moeen Ali 25 1 85 2 3.40 Adil Rashid 22 2 75 3 3.41 Joe Root 8 0 26 1 3.25 Ben Stokes 1 0 9 0 9.00 59 1

20 85 25 15 31

12

England 2nd innings Jack Leach Not Out 0 Extras 0b 0lb 0nb 0pen 0w Total (1.0 overs) Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Dilruwan Perera 1 1 0 0 0.00 Umpire Sundaram Ravi Umpire Marais Erasmus Video Christopher Gaffaney Match Referee Andrew Pycroft