Just before tea the inescapable conclusion was that England were experiencing their worst day of the tour; they had been profligate with the bat and unusually clumsy in the field with their captain, Joe Root, spilling two slip catches off a perspiring Stuart Broad.
But by the close this qualified as their best day. They contrived a U-turn of a dimension beyond any of our leaders back home. Good sides seize their chances and here England contrived a staggering collapse. From 173 for one Sri Lanka subsided to 240 all out, which means that they lost their last nine wickets for 67 runs when once they seemed destined for a sizeable first-innings lead. The home side contributed to their own downfall but there was something awesome in the way that Root and his team ruthlessly upturned the match when the door was ajar.
The architects of the collapse were not necessarily the usual suspects. Adil Rashid, who had been required to bowl one of the first 42 overs in the innings, snatched Test-best figures of five for 49 as well as pulling off a startling run-out. Ben Stokes, who had not bowled until the 45th over, then intervened in a telling 10-over spell, interrupted by tea, during which he peppered hapless batsmen with short deliveries. When in the mood Stokes ignores the thermometer, though he had to spend a lot of time wiping his sweat-drenched hands before bowling his next delivery. All three of his dismissals rolled off the tongue nicely since the victims were caught by Ben Foakes, who had made light of taking a blow to the fingers of his left hand.
Both bowlers may mischievously ask their captain why it took him so long to introduce them. There was one other notable contributor, Keaton Jennings, who would never question the wisdom of his captain. He had another inspired day at short leg. He held four catches, which equals the record by an outfielder for England in the one innings of a Test, and three of them were outstanding. The best was probably a one-handed take from the bat of a startled Roshen Silva but the one that sent Dhananjaya de Silva on his way was not so bad either. This dismissal was the first domino to fall in what became the ugliest of processions for the home side.
Rashid found significant turn from the start, though it took him a while to find the appropriate length. By contrast, the conditions were not encouraging for a pace bowler but Stokes was never going to let that deter him. Until their interventions England had seemed listless and ill-disciplined by the standards they have set on this tour.
In the morning, their remaining batsmen slipped from carefree mode, which is just about acceptable in the modern era, into carelessness. Moeen Ali, having just caressed a couple of boundaries in Goweresque style, then holed out to long-off against Dilruwan Perera. It is still not obvious where he was trying to hit the ball. There was a long-off and a long-on stationed on the boundary as Moeen drove lazily to one of them, Angelo Mathews, who had to move nine inches to accept the catch.
England’s calculated aggression has been a source of wonder in this series but there was no calculation in this shot from the most enchanting of cricketers, who occasionally is the most exasperating as well.
Broad has not visited the middle recently and he was not inclined to spend much time in reconnaissance. He swept at his second ball from Lakshan Sandakan, which duly hit middle stump after negotiating a way around his legs. Then Jack Leach, attempting his Marcus Trescothick impersonations, could not quite clear Mathews running back at mid-off. England have a capable tail but the output of paltry 24 runs had deprived them of an imposing score.
For 47 overs, Sri Lanka breezed along, losing a solitary wicket as Dimuth Karunaratne, who has been in fine form throughout the series, and De Silva skilfully patted the ball into numerous gaps. They benefited from those spurned slip catches, which denied a less-than-gruntled Broad his first wickets of the tour.
The only wicket had come from the first moment of inspiration plus a bit of luck from Jennings at short leg. He followed Danushka Gunathilaka down the pitch as the batsman showed considerable aggressive intent against Leach. He swung lustily and the ball took a thick inside-edge, which flicked the pad and then headed for the midriff of Jennings, who instinctively grabbed the ball in his hands.
This dismissal seemed little more than a pinprick for Sri Lanka as Karunaratne and De Silva calmly compiled a partnership of 142, the largest of the series. Whereupon Root decided it was time to release his lethal secret weapons. As a consequence, England, three without loss at the close, were somehow leading by 99 runs when the afternoon thunderstorm arrived.
