Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the in-form Kamindu Mendis pissed off England with a unbroken century partnership on the second day of the third Test on the Oval on Saturday. The vacationers collapsed to 93-5 earlier than tea, however had recovered to 211-5 when dangerous mild pressured an early shut. That left Sri Lanka 114 runs adrift of an England first-innings whole of 325 constructed on Ollie Pope’s 154 — his first century as England captain. De Silva was 64 not out and left-handed batsman Kamindu Mendis, once more down the order at quantity seven, 54 not out in an undefeated stand of 118 as Sri Lanka appeared to salvage some pleasure at 2-0 behind in a three-match collection.
It was a tremendous finish to the day for Sri Lanka, who took seven wickets earlier than lunch on Saturday to finish England’s innings.
For Mendis, at the moment boasting a staggeringly excessive Test batting common of over 85, this was the seventh time in six matches at this stage the 25-year-old had handed 50 — a run that additionally consists of three centuries.
De Silva, nevertheless, ought to have been out for 23 however Test debutant Josh Hull dropped a easy catch at mid-on, the ball bursting by way of the towering quick bowler’s big palms following a miscued drive off spinner Shoaib Bashir.
England, 211-3 in a single day, may have batted Sri Lanka out of the sport.
But an improved Sri Lanka bowling show, allied to a number of England batsmen giving their wickets away, helped the vacationers struggle again.
‘Character’
“I think after what happened yesterday (Friday), we pulled ourselves back into the game,” Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya instructed reporters after stumps.
“Getting seven wickets for about 100 runs was very good. The quicks and (off-spinner) De Silva bowled well.
Jayasuriya, who scored a superb double century in Sri Lanka’s 1998 Test triumph at the Oval, also praised De Silva and Kamindu Mendis’s batting by saying: “These guys have proven character. They know that they’re the final two recognised batters.”
Sri Lanka scored 69 runs without loss in 17 overs of all spin bowling after tea on Saturday, with England deciding against deploying their pacemen in case the umpires halted play for bad light even earlier than they eventually did.
England quick Olly Stone defended Pope’s tactics by telling Sky Sports: “It was too darkish for our seamers however we tried to take the optimistic choice.
“We thought we could take wickets with our spinners,” added Stone, who had 2-28 in 5 overs at stumps. “But Sri Lanka played well.”
Sri Lanka’s innings suffered an early setback when Dimuth Karunaratne (9) was run out by Stone’s direct hit from brief cowl after Pathum Nissanka set off for a rash single.
Nissanka accomplished a tremendous fifty when he punched the 20-year-old Hull for 4 by way of mid-off. But the 6ft 7 inch (2 metres) tall Hull took his first Test wicket by eradicating Nissanka for 64 when the opener’s drive was nicely caught by a diving Chris Woakes at cowl.
And 91-4 turned 93-5 when Stone had Dinesh Chandimal lbw for a duck.
De Silva celebrated his reprieve by late-cutting Lawrence for 4 to finish an 81-ball fifty, whereas the fashionable Kamindu Mendis reached the landmark in a mere 60 balls.
Joe Root was additionally given a few overs along with his occasional off-breaks earlier than, amid worsening pure mild, play ended for the day.
Earlier, England misplaced their final six wickets for 35 runs after resuming on 221-3.
Pope was then 103 not out after managing a mere 30 runs in 4 innings since succeeding the injured Ben Stokes as skipper firstly of this collection.
Sri Lanka’s wayward four-man tempo assault had didn’t benefit from overcast circumstances and a green-tinged pitch after De Silva gained the toss.
Their efficiency improved markedly on Saturday, though Pope contributed to his personal downfall by hooking left-arm fast Vishwa Fernando to deep sq. leg to finish a 156-ball innings together with 19 fours and two sixes.
England, who whitewashed the West Indies 3-0 earlier this season, are chasing their first dwelling Test clear sweep since 2004, when Michael Vaughan oversaw seven successive wins.
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