Sri Lanka's caution sleep-inducing, but effective

Elsewhere on planet cricket, thrill-a-minute fun is on the rise. New Zealand have their well-stocked slip cordon. Michael Clarke is the archduke of funk. Even England, who were cricket's version of hospital food (you could almost hear the flatlining heart monitors as Alastair Cook captained) have lately found zest for the game in one format at least. Bangladesh, as well, have discovered a more consistent version of their flamboyant selves.

As the second day dragged on at the P Sara Oval, it became clear that in time to come, Sri Lanka may put more people into comas than raise patients out of them. Against a side missing their form pace bowler through injury, on a pitch that was probably at its best for batting, Sri Lanka moved at 2.56 runs per over to get 166 runs ahead - effective, but rarely exciting.

The hosts always speak about being "positive and aggressive". The phrase has gone from captain to captain, and is now recited by rote. It made sense to hear it when Sri Lanka were the most thrilling team in cricket, dishing out counterattacks and flooding the infield with catching men. But by modern Test standards, they are a tentative bunch. Spin bowlers are eased into the attack with men on the fence. Holes are plugged when boundaries are hit. Run-rates languish, whether chasing the game, or running it.

Take Kaushal Silva, who has made the most runs so far in this series. His cover drive is pretty enough, but his innings have more leaves than a banyan tree. Silva's first run in this innings was 13 balls in the making. It took him 76 deliveries to reach 20, then 163 to reach 50. At times on Friday morning, it seemed like his game plan was to put spectators to sleep, then change the scoreboard while the stadium dozed. All over the ground, people woke up in pools of drool to note Silva had advanced 10 runs. Then, straining in vain to stay awake for a four that never came, they would topple over in their chairs.

You could hardly blame him Dimuth Karunaratne had been out slashing at a wide ball. Kumar Sangakkara, reliving one of his all-time classic modes of dismissal, picked out long on with precision. Lahiru Thirimanne's Test woes continued, and even Angelo Mathews should have been out trying to clear the infield, had he not been a recipient of a dropped catch - a daily award prescribed by Pakistan fielding custom.

Mathews' innings perhaps contained the most watchable batting moments of the day, when he wristily turned Yasir Shah through midwicket for a pair of Azharuddin-esque boundaries. But he undid all that handsomeness when he helped bring about that ugliest form of dismissal- a run-out. Ignoring Silva's call for a quick single, Mathews watched his partner dosey doe the middle of the pitch, then leave the ground disappointed, on 80. In Mathews' defence he could have been taken aback by the call, given Silva had shown intense disdain for making runs for most of his innings. Still, he must be at least partly to blame. Since his debut, no cricketer has been involved in anywhere near the 54 run-outs Mathews has been a part of. On average, a run-out occurs every 4.6 times Mathews makes his way to the middle.

As if to drive home the point that Silva's slow burn was Sri Lanka's best approach for the moment, Dinesh Chandimal and Kithuruwan Vithanage lost their wickets attacking, for the second innings on the trot. Chandimal ran at Yasir and yorked himself. Having been out sweeping Yasir with the spin in the last match, Vithanage attempted to reverse sweep against the spin early in this innings. This is a bit like body slamming a bonfire to avenge it for burning your finger. Predictably, he was bowled. Even Silva, usually a sympathetic and generous team-mate, found the shot hard to defend.

"I can't comment on that shot actually," Silva said. "At that stage the ball was spinning and he took the wrong option. That's all what I can say. He reverse-sweeps well and I am not saying that was a good shot. But we all make mistakes and that's part of the game."

Karunaratne, Thirimanne, Chandimal and Vithanage deserved to be persevered with. Having already sunk resources into these men, Sri Lanka have few other choices. Maybe one day, they will begin playing the exhilarating cricket that befits the successors of batsmen such as Duleep Mendis, Aravinda de Silva and Mahela Jayawardene. But for now, prudence seems to mark Sri Lanka's route forward. Better a few sleepy spectators than complete implosion.