At the fourth time of asking in the series, Sri Lanka made England toil a little for their rewards on the third day at Chester-le-Street after inevitably being made to follow-on. Kaushal Silva was unbeaten on 57 at tea as Sri Lanka reached 162 for 3, still a massive 235 away from wiping out the deficit but a decent effort so far in saving some face after three limp batting displays.
If the aim of this series for Sri Lanka is small gains as part of a longer-term recovery, then they ticked a few boxes. Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne formed an opening stand of some substance then Angelo Mathews was able to begin his innings with the ball 30 overs old and the semblance of a foundation even if these things all remained relative. By tea he and Silva had added Sri Lanka’s first fifty stand of the series.
Chris Woakes put in another impressive display and he broke the opening stand when Karunaratne edged to second slip. Shortly after lunch James Anderson responded to being taken for three boundaries in five balls by producing a beauty which ended Kusal Mendis’ feisty 22-ball 26. It was a 14th catch of the series for Jonny Baristow and the England record for a three-match series, of 17 held by Geraint Jones against Sri Lanka 2006, was hurrying into view.
There was a change in the batting order as Lahiru Thirimanne, who had started the day at the crease, was promoted to No. 4 but again he could not break through the teens when he received a lovely delivery from Moeen Ali which straightened from around the wicket to take off stump. Moeen was removed from the attack straight after that wicket, to be replaced by Steven Finn who remained the least convincing of England’s bowlers as he laboured for rhythm – there could be an tricky decision for the selectors to make on his home ground at Lord’s for the third Test.
While England chipped away, Silva remained resolute as he brought up a 111-ball half-century. He had one iffy moment on 16 when he drove at Woakes and edged wide of Joe Root at second slip. There was a strange absence of a third slip given England’s vast lead and Woakes’ probing spell. Other than that, though, Silva was compact, punching and driving strongly off the front foot.
Mathews made an uncertain start, edging Anderson third ball low towards second slip but the catch was not taken cleanly – confirmation coming after a brief look by the TV umpire – and next ball was beaten by an unplayable delivery which prompted Alastair Cook to mistakenly review. As he settled, Mathews started to show more intent, thrashing Stuart Broad square of the wicket then three times clubbing Moeen over mid-off.
In the morning it had taken England less than four overs to wrap up Sri Lanka’s first innings for 101. It was the first time since 1958 that a side had been bowled out for under 120 in three consecutive innings, but by tea there had not been another capitulation and the prospect of a fourth day’s play was not out of the question.
