For the first time in the series England’s plans have gone awry. A first-innings lead was expected after their spirited recovery on Wednesday evening on a helpful pitch, which, as promised, is encouraging more turn for the spinners. Yet 24 hours later Sri Lanka were still batting and in proud possession of a significant lead. A gripping pitch brings a gripping contest and after two days the home side, seemingly in disarray after the first Test in Galle, were just about winning it.
Roshen Silva, the replacement for the injured captain Dinesh Chandimal, led the way with a beautifully judged innings of 85, which ended with England having to bat for one over. It was defended successfully by Jack Leach, which presumably means that England will have a new No 3, Keaton Jennings, on Friday.
This was a defiant, composed effort from the home side and after the heights of Galle a disappointing day for England, who struggled to exploit the conditions as a consequence of too many wayward deliveries and the odd wayward decision. England were at their most toothless in the first 90 minutes despite the early dismissal of nightwatchman Malinda Pushpakumara, who was caught at midwicket off Moeen Ali.
The ball was turning – far more than at Galle – but little pressure was applied. The current trend for deep-set fields for spin bowlers is easy to understand and it often makes sense but there surely has to be more flexibility. Dhananjaya de Silva tapped an easy single to long-off to get off the mark. Remember how those first 10 balls are supposed to be the hardest to survive; that is not the case for the new batsman when the field is so widely spread.
Dimuth Karunaratne and De Silva had added 96 together at a rate in excess of a run a minute when Ben Stokes intervened, not as a bowler but a fielder. Karunaratne had batted impeccably for 63 when he was called for a run as the ball trickled square on the off side. Stokes swooped and his throw hit the one stump that was visible to him. Moments later when Kusal Mendis faced his first ball from Leach, Stokes took a superb left-handed catch at slip. So lunch tasted a bit better for the perspiring tourists.
For more than two hours De Silva batted like a man who had spent a lot of time watching and studying Mahela Jayawardene at the crease. His footwork was precise and he elegantly explored the gaps in the field. After lunch, taken when Sri Lanka were 139 for four, England were not quite so conservative in their field settings. Adil Rashid bowled a long spell which contained a few long hops but also a sequence of leg-breaks that spun sharply from a length. Two of those accounted for De Silva and Angelo Mathews, who were both deftly caught by Ben Foakes, who had, for the record, conceded his first byes in Test cricket during the morning session – from a nasty leg-side delivery from Leach.
At 165 for six there was the prospect of a lead for England but the Sri Lankan tail was as resolute and skilful as that of the tourists on the first day. Roshen Silva batted with calm restraint against the spinners who were unable to apply enough pressure despite the odd ball deviating sharply. At Taunton Leach, who was the most accurate of English’s spinners, has seldom witnessed such finesse when bowling on spinning pitches.
Niroshan Dickwella’s innings was in Jos Buttler mode with frequent reverse sweeps frustrating the spinners. Then Dickwella went at about the same time as Dominic Raab, lbw to Joe Root, sweeping of course. Now every Sri Lankan batsman kept company with Silva. Dilruwan Perera allowed another 41 to be added whereupon he departed, just before Esther McVey, lbw to Leach.
Akila Dananjaya contributed an impish 31 as the total passed 300 and Silva gave himself the liberty of playing some aerial strokes. The second new ball was taken, an unlikely event at the start of play, and Jimmy Anderson was obliged to bowl seven consecutive overs with it before Dananjaya and Silva eventually fell to the spinners.
So Sri Lanka’s total was 336, a lead of 46. The hawk-eyed may spy some dubious mathematics here since it was reported that England were bowled out for 285 on Wednesday. However by Thursday night the total had increased to 290 as they were awarded five penalty runs. This was a curiosity rather than a source of contention.
Silva hit a ball from Leach down to third man and jogged towards the non-striker’s end but obviously concluded that the ball was going for four and failed to complete the run. To his surprise Moeen was able to dive heroically to save the boundary and throw the ball back. So Silva gave up any thoughts of grounding his bat at the bowler’s end and headed back to the striker’s end and safety. Umpire Marais Erasmus reasonably concluded that the batsman had deliberately run short, which results in a five-run penalty. By the standards of the day this did not constitute a great drama.
