After the storm, the calm. Today was an improbably peaceful follow-up to the raucous events of Thursday evening, when allegations flew and reprimands were registered. The sense of decorum even extended to Sri Lanka's batsmen, who were perfectly content to dawdle off for bad light with ten overs of the day remaining, despite the threat of rain over the next couple of days.

Admittedly, they should recoup the loss when play starts half-an-hour early tomorrow. But the message that the decision sends out is most intriguing. Rewind the calendar by two-and-a-half years, to that anarchic tussle of 2000-01, and it is impossible to imagine Sri Lanka taking such a cautious route in their pursuit of victory. It is also quite possible that they would have skidded off the road in their eagerness to cut the corners.

Whatever the facts and figures, and the rights and wrongs of Nasser Hussain's run-in with Muttiah Muralitharan yesterday afternoon, it is now apparent that this series is a needle match waiting to happen. But so far, both sides have been playing a waiting game. From England, that is understandable - patience is their tried-and-trusted subcontinental game-plan, as sacred and irreplaceable as the Buddha's tooth in the nearby temple. But after failing with their headstrong approach last time, it seems that Sri Lanka have now adopted much the same policy.

So far, the tactic has backfired on Sri Lanka. Mahela Jayawardene's ponderous 86 at Galle last week was precisely the sort of time-consuming knock that Michael Atherton and Graham Thorpe made their specialities in 2000-01. But Sri Lanka's failure to take the final wicket of that match meant all the blame was laid at Jayawardene's feet. With a captain like Hashan Tillakaratne, however - a champion stonewaller himself - such blame will not be felt in the dressing-room.

There will be the inevitable nudges and winks as this series progresses (in fact, Gareth Batty and Kumar Sangakkara appeared to exchange pleasantries late in today's play), but it will be the side that is best equipped for the long haul that will win this series. Andrew Flintoff's struggles with the bat are indicative of the slow pace that this series has adopted.

England have plenty of cause for optimism - their top order drips with potency, while their tail has so far shown a remarkable immunity to Murali's magic. But Sri Lanka have had the upper hand from the first morning of this series, and with every game destined to go the full five days, they should be confident of victory, if they can only keep their cool.

Andrew Miller, Wisden Cricinfo's assistant editor, is accompanying England on their travels throughout Sri Lanka.