England faltered in the chase of 74, losing their top three with only 14 runs on the board, after bowling out Sri Lanka for 359 on day four in Galle.
SCORECARD
With a target of less than 100 to scale, England were expected to sail through but a sudden flurry of wickets at the start kept the lid on the visitors’ scoring rate. Lasith Embuldeniya drew first blood for Sri Lanka in the first over of England’s innings, knocking over Dom Sibley’s stumps.
The Sri Lanka spinners troubled the England batsmen with their sharp turns and Embuldeniya was rewarded with another wicket when he dismissed Zak Crawley (8) in the fifth over, making him edge to Kusal Mendis at gully. With both openers back in the hut, England needed to play cautiously but a poor decision from Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root pegged them back further. The duo went for a tight single and Niroshan Dickwella raced towards short cover and aimed at the stumps to catch Root well short of the crease at the striker’s end.
With the light fading, Bairstow and Dan Lawrence managed to stabilise the innings before the umpires called stumps, taking England to 38/3, requiring 36 more.
Earlier in the day on 156/2, Sri Lanka looked to continue their solid batting display with Thirimanne on 76*. Dom Bess, who had taken a five-for in the first innings, struck straightaway getting nightwatchman Embuldeniya out for a duck. Thirimanne then combined with the experienced Mathews to lead Sri Lanka’s charge.
The duo played their shots but refrained from taking any unnecessary risks. Their half-century stand helped the hosts to reduce the deficit to under 100. In the process, Thirimanne brought up his second Test ton. His first one had come way back in 2013, also in Galle, against Bangladesh.
England’s spinners Leach and Bess did little to trouble the Sri Lankan batsmen, who made the most of the scoring opportunities that came their way.
However, England received a major boost with the second new ball when Sam Curran dismissed the set Thirimanne for 111 as the batsman got an inside edge while defending a ball that dipped in. Captain Dinesh Chandimal, who walked in next, struggled to get going but did add quick runs to take the hosts to 242/4 at lunch.
His resistance came to an end soon after Sri Lanka resumed the second session with Bess providing the breakthrough as Root pouched a sharp low catch at the first slip. Mathews was then joined by Dickwella at the crease and together the pair looked to frustrate the England bowlers.
The visiting bowlers bowled long spells without giving away too many runs but were left wicket-less for half of the second session. Mathews and Dickwella managed to get rid of the first innings deficit but with half their side gone, they did not have the luxury of taking too many risks.
Bess came into the attack to give yet another breakthrough, as Dickwella edged one to the keeper for a 74-ball 29. Leach at the other end then dismissed the newcomer Dasun Shanaka (4), disturbing his stumps with a sharply spinning delivery. Meanwhile, Mathews completed his 36th fifty in Tests just before the tea break.
The hosts looked to fatten their lead of 16 runs in the third session with Angelo Mathews leading the charge. After Wanindu Hasaranga’s quick departure, Mathews and Dilruwan Perera took on the England bowlers and upped the scoring rate. But the search for quick runs proved fatal for both batsmen. Jack Leach first enticed Dilruwan (24) to come forward as Jos Buttler effected his first stumping in Test cricket. Mathews failed to last much longer and fell to Leach three overs later for a fighting 71, setting England a target of 74.
Leach finished as England’s top wicket-taker in the innings with a five-for (5/122).
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