Sri Lanka calling the shots

10.00am Sri Lanka 563 for 5 (Samaraweera 142, Jayawardene 134, Dilshan 72*, Chandana 54*) lead England 265 by 298 runs
Scorecard
Match photo gallery

Not even Duncan Fletcher could dead-bat his way out of admitting that England had a shocking day in the field yesterday. And with two days of this match remaining, and a deficit of 298 already conceded, it'll take more than just a positive attitude to salvage the series now.

"It's been pretty difficult," admitted Fletcher. "The wicket's been quite flat and it's been a hard struggle. We won the toss and didn't take advantage of that but you must appreciate that Muttiah Muralitharan doesn't let you take advantage.

Poor catching didn't aid England's cause yesterday - Marcus Trescothick took his tally of drops to three with another sitter at slip - but Fletcher pointed out that England's problems lay in the batting department. "When you win a toss on a wicket like that," he said, "you have to score near 400."

For Sri Lanka, an authoritative stand of 262 between Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene cemented their total domination, and now the only on-field question is how long will it take for the notoriously cautious Hashan Tillakaratne to declare. Off the field, Marvan Atapattu has a bit of explaining to do, after a large stash of banknotes were found in his bedroom yesterday. Atapattu sat out yesterday's play with a damaged hand.