Bad light gives England respite

Close Sri Lanka 382 and 39 for 1 (Jayasuriya 25*, Sangakkara 1*) lead England 294 (Thorpe 57) by 127 runs
Scorecard

Ashley Giles took his sixth wicket of the match - and his 14th of the series so far - as Marvan Atapattu was trapped lbw for 8, his second failure in this Test. But Sanath Jayasuriya was menacingly poised on 25 not out, when Sri Lanka surprisingly chose to take an offer for bad light, despite a healthy lead of 127 and the threat of rain over the next couple of days.

Sri Lanka had begun their second innings with a useful lead of 88, after England had been bowled out for 294 just before tea. Atapattu and Jayasuriya set about building on that advantage, and saw off the new ball to good effect. But Giles, coming round the wicket, pushed Atapattu onto the back foot and pinned him plumb in front of middle (33 for 1), to bring Kumar Sangakkara to the crease. He appeared to become involved in a brief altercation with Gareth Batty, but the clouds rolled over to allow the teams to retreat to the dressing-room.

2.30pm England 294 (Thorpe 57, Vaas 4-77, Murali 4-60) trail Sri Lanka 382 by 88 runs

England's tail was eventually weeded out for 294 with ten minutes of the afternoon session remaining, but not before Gareth Batty and Ashley Giles had reprised the roles they played in last week's great escape at Galle, with some more stubborn resistance.

England had resumed on their overnight 163 for 4, but when they lost three wickets in the first hour to stumble to 205 for 7, they looked destined to concede a hefty first-innings deficit. But Graham Thorpe resisted valiantly for four hours in making 57, and Batty and Giles fed off his example, to limit Sri Lanka's advantage to a less-than-decisive 88.

Last night, the focus of this Test shifted temporarily from the centre of the pitch to the match referee's office. But no amount of off-field controversy could disguise the fact that England began the day in something of a hole. All eyes were on Thorpe from the very start - he had resumed on 20 not out, having added 44 for England's fifth wicket with the remarkably composed Paul Collingwood, who was doing his utmost to justify his inclusion at the expense of an extra bowler.

But the first hour went entirely Sri Lanka's way. Collingwood could only add nine runs to his overnight 19, before Chaminda Vaas found a hint of seam movement to take the outside edge. Kumar Sangakkara, diving to his right across first slip, completed a good catch inches from the ground (177 for 5). His dismissal brought Andrew Flintoff out to the middle, who played one of his typically frenetic innings.

Flintoff opened up with a thumping back-foot drive for four off Murali, only to hoick his very next delivery just short of Dinusha Fernando, running in from mid-on. Unperturbed, he lofted Vaas off the back foot over mid-off and then belted him straight down the ground for six. But, with his confidence rising, Flintoff got too ambitious against Murali, and was bowled off his pads as he galumphed down the pitch and mistimed an attempted slog (202 for 6).

Through all this, Thorpe remained his usual compact self, finding the gaps and occasionally cashing in on a rare half-volley. He was particularly determined to reverse-sweep at every opportunity, but unfortunately this ambition rubbed off on his new partner, Chris Read, who was adjudged lbw by Daryl Harper as he attempted a conventional sweep against Sanath Jayasuriya (205 for 7). But Batty, who had battled gamely for an invaluable 26 in that rearguard at Galle last week, was the right man for the moment. Always looking to attack, but solid in his defence as well, he provided Thorpe with the sort of support England so desperately needed.

In the course of his four-hour innings, Thorpe had showcased all his skills against the turning ball. But, even he had no answer for the ball that eventually accounted for him - a wicked top-spinner from Murali that pitched on middle and straightened to trap Thorpe lbw before he had any time to adjust his stroke. It appeared to be the decisive blow of the innings, but Batty and Giles proved otherwise, and eventually, Hashan Tillakaratne was forced to resort to the new ball.

Giles didn't last too much longer, as Mahela Jayawardene snapped him up at second slip off Vaas, but Batty hammered a couple of pugnacious blows before holing out to Tillakaratne Dilshan at midwicket.