Sri Lanka battle to stay in contest as England face tricky chase at Old Trafford
England were 82 for three at tea in pursuit of 205.
England found Sri Lanka in stubborn mood as they chased victory on day four of the first Test, with the tourists refusing to roll over at Emirates Old Trafford.
A fine 113 from Kamindu Mendis, who shared a century stand with Dinesh Chandimal, left the home side needing a tricky 205 to win the series opener.
They went on to lose both openers and stand-in captain Ollie Pope as they reached tea on 82 for three with Joe Root and Harry Brook in charge of an increasingly nervy chase.
The initial omens favoured England, Vishwa Fernando’s second ball careering past second slip for five wides and Ben Duckett surviving what looked an outstanding catch from replacement wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, who scraped the ball along the ground he dived one-handed.
Dan Lawrence welcomed Prabath Jayasuriya to the attack by skipping down the pitch and launching him for six but the pursuit was not destined to run smoothly.
Duckett was first to go for 11, caught behind off Asitha Fernando, and Pope followed cheaply for the second time in the match. Aiming a reverse sweep at the spinner, he got a toe-end on it and lobbed a catch to slip.
It took a third wicket to reinforce the idea that England were entering a genuinely tricky period, Lawrence sprung lbw by Milan Rathnayake after a busy 34.
The burden now lay with Root and Brook but both had scares before the tea break.
Root looked to be struggling when a close lbw shout went upstairs, but UltraEdge showed the tiniest graze off the bat. Brook then came perilously close to giving a catching opportunity when his sweep just beat square-leg.
England started the day with hopes of a hustling their way to a quick finish, 82 behind but needing just four more wickets.
Mark Wood’s absence with a thigh injury tied their hands a little, stripping the team of its fastest bowler and most intimidating weapon, but they would still count themselves disappointed to go through the entire morning session without creating a genuine chance.
Resuming on 204 for six, Sri Lanka added another 87 runs before the break as Kamindu and Chandimal (79) did enough to get under the home side’s skin.
Kamindu was making full use of a second chance, having been dropped by Gus Atkinson on 39 on the third evening, while Chandimal thrived in Wood’s absence.
A 90mph blow to the hand from the Durham quick had forced him to retire hurt on Friday but he avoided a fracture and was back at the crease with the aid of some painkillers.
The pair shared eight boundaries in the first hour, ticking the lead into three figures before stretching it towards more worrying territory.
Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers but things had fallen flat elsewhere, Gus Atkinson shipping 25 off two overs at one point and Shoaib Bashir finishing the innings wicketless.
Kamindu was delayed 10 short of his century by a rain shower but still managed to get there before lunch with a sharp cut for four.
The partnership went on to reach 117, the best of the match, but when England’s response finally came it was decisive – taking all four wickets in 26 balls.
Atkinson finally drew an error from Kamindu, edging a drive to slip, and the tail fell quickly into line. Matthew Potts took two to partially salvage a middling Test comeback and Woakes collected his sixth of the match.
