Advantage over as Sri Lanka hit back to leave it on a knife-edge
England bowlers have a mixed day as they allow home side back into thrilling contest
SRI LANKA have fought back with the bat to throw a captivating Second Test against England back into the balance.
Joe Root’s side, 1-0 up after victory in Galle last week, know another win here at Pallekele Stadium would see them seal a first overseas Test series win since the tour of South Africa in the winter of 2015-16.
However, Sri Lanka, who started this second day on 26 for one, rallied to take a first-innings lead that stood at 30 with an hour of the day to go after halfcenturies from Dimuth Karunaratne, Dhananjaya De Silva and Roshen Silva.
Yet, the lead should be more after Roshen was controversially punished for failing to ground his bat properly and England were awarded five penalty runs, which were added to their first innings total.
They still face a fight to stay in this Test, though.
England, rescued themselves by a brilliant 64 from Sam Curran yesterday, will wonder just how Sri Lanka managed to eke out an advantage after they reduced their opponents to 165 for six during the afternoon session.
But, in a microcosm of their inconsistencies away from home in recent years, a combination of bad bowling and inspired batting has left this contest on a knife-edge.
Root’s men will still rate themselves as favourites to win, particularly as Sri Lanka will have to bat last on a dry pitch that has offered plenty to the spinners.
They will have to bat well in the second innings, though, to regain control of a contest that they had in their grip after the first day.
Poor bowling in the morning session from spinners Jack Leach, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid reduced the pressure on Sri Lanka and i t wa s o n ly two inspired pieces of fielding from Ben Stokes that left them ahead of the game at lunch.
Rashid then put the tourists back in command with an inspired spell after lunch that saw him take two for 32 in 11 overs and remove key batsmen Dhananjaya and Angelo Mathews. Despite further wickets for captain Root and Leach, Sri Lanka hit back to take a lead.
England actually managed a first breakthrough in the third over of the day, when night-watchman Malinda Pushpakumara swept Moeen to midwicket. Karunaratne had already been dropped before then on 21 by Keaton Jennings at short leg.
And alongside Dhananjaya, Sri Lanka’s third-wicket pair put on a crucial 96-run stand that was only broken by the brilliance of Stokes, who took aim at the stumps from his position at backward point to dismiss Karunaratne on 63 with a direct hit. It was not only the sheer speed of Stokes’s reactions that impressed but the fact he had just one stump to aim at. The relief for England was palpable.
Relief then turned to elation 13 balls later, when Stokes took a remarkable one-handed catch at slip to dismiss Kusal Mendis after Leach, finally finding his rhythm, had found the edge.
It saw Sri Lanka head into lunch on 139 for four — still 146 behind — and England were thankful to Stokes for ensuring an underwhelming session with the ball was more rewarding than it probably should have been.
Things changed after the interval, when Rashid began to land his legbreak with increasing accuracy. He found appreciable bounce and turn to dismiss Dhananjaya on 59, wicket-