England face the daunting prospect of playing out spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan on the final day today to draw the second Test and keep the three-match series alive.
The tourists, trailing Sri Lanka by 197 runs on the first innings, ended the fourth day's play on a wearing Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) pitch at 48-0 in their second knock yesterday.
Alastair Cook was unbeaten on 19 and captain Michael Vaughan was on 28 when play was abandoned for the day 16 overs early because of bad light.
England, who lost the first Test by 88 runs in Kandy last week, must bat out the last day's play to have a chance of forcing a series-levelling win in the final Test at Galle from next Tuesday.
Sri Lanka have won 10 of their last 12 Tests at the SSC with Muralitharan, Test cricket's leading bowler, being the wrecker-in-chief on most occasions.
Earlier, Sri Lanka took their overnight score of 379-4 to 548-9 before captain Mahela Jayawardene, who top-scored with 195, declared the first innings in the final session.
The hosts were reduced to 450-8 after lunch before wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene and Dilhara Fernando put on 98 runs for the ninth wicket to boost the lead.
Prasanna Jayawardene struck a pugnacious 79 with the help of five boundaries before he gloved Steve Harmison to wicketkeeper Matthew Prior and prompted his captain to declare.
Fast bowler Fernando remained unbeaten on 36 as the Sri Lankan tail frustrated England's bowlers, for whom Harmison and Ryan Sidebottom claimed three wickets each.
Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar took 2-151 from 50 overs.
The ninth-wicket pair kept England at bay after the tourists fought back in the morning session with some quick wickets.
England, who struggled to take two wickets during the entire third day's play, grabbed three in the space of 26 runs yesterday morning.
Mahela Jayawardene, on 167 overnight, fell five runs short of his fourth double hundred in 20 three-figure knocks. He hit 16 boundaries and a six.
Sri Lanka added 20 runs to their overnight total when Jehan Mubarak fended at a short ball from Harmison and handed Ian Bell an easy catch at gully.
Mubarak, under pressure to hold his place in the Test side, made nine.
Mahela Jayawardene, who came in to bat on Monday afternoon with Sri Lanka struggling on 22-2, was sixth out at the total of 420 after he top-edged a sweep off Panesar to Paul Collingwood at first slip.
The skipper is Sri Lanka's highest run-getter with 7,058 from 92 Tests after racing past the retired Sanath Jayasuriya's previous record of 6,973 runs on Tuesday.
Paceman Stuart Broad picked up his first Test wicket when he bounced Chaminda Vaas and the left-hander's attempted hook shot deflected to Bell in the slips.
Panesar picked up Lasith Malinga after lunch before Prasanna Jayawardene and Fernando increased the home team's lead.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
RSS