Bad light gives England welcome respite

Close Sri Lanka 382 and 39 for 1 (Jayasuriya 25*, Sangakkara 1*) lead England 294 (Thorpe 57) by 127 runs
Scorecard

Sri Lanka finished the third day of the Kandy Test in a promising position, after building on a first-innings lead of 88 to reach the close on 39 for 1. But with Ashley Giles and Gareth Batty bowling in tandem, Sri Lanka made a puzzling decision to take an offer of bad light with ten overs remaining, a move which demonstrated just how finely balanced this contest has become. With two days remaining and an overall lead of 127, there are plenty twists and turns in store - weather permitting, of course.

It was a day which started ignominiously for England, when they lost three important wickets inside the first hour. But with Graham Thorpe digging in for a hugely important 57, England's tail followed his example and reproduced the attritional form they had shown in last week's rearguard at Galle. Gareth Batty and Ashley Giles hung around for 15 overs in their ninth-wicket stand of 23, and not even Muttiah Muralitharan could separate them.

In the end, Sri Lanka had to resort to the new ball and Chaminda Vaas duly wrapped up the innings. But Giles then followed up his good work with the bat by making England's only breakthrough of the evening, when Marvan Atapattu was pushed onto the back foot and trapped lbw for 8. It was Giles's sixth wicket of the match, and his 14th of the series so far.

Heave-ho: Andrew Flintoff surveys the damage © Getty Images

Last night, the focus of this Test shifted temporarily from the centre of the pitch to the match referee's office. But no amount of off-field controversy could disguise the fact that England began the day in something of a hole. They resumed on their overnight 163 for 4, but when they lost three wickets in the first hour to stumble to 205 for 7, they looked destined to concede a hefty first-innings deficit. But Thorpe, who had been unbeaten on 20 at the close, resisted valiantly for four hours, and Batty and Giles fed off his example, to reduce Sri Lanka's advantage to manageable proportions.

Paul Collingwood had been remarkably composed in adding 44 for England's fifth wicket on Thursday evening, but he could only add nine runs to his overnight 19, before Chaminda Vaas found a hint of seam movement and Kumar Sangakkara, diving to his right across first slip, completed a good catch inches from the ground (177 for 5). His dismissal brought Andrew Flintoff out to the middle, and he played one of his typically frenetic innings.

Flintoff opened up with a thumping back-foot drive for four off Murali, only to hoick his very next delivery just short of Dinusha Fernando, running in from mid-on. Unperturbed, he lofted Vaas off the back foot over mid-off and then belted him straight down the ground for six. But, with his confidence rising, Flintoff got too ambitious against Murali, and was bowled off his pads as he galumphed down the pitch and mistimed an attempted slog (202 for 6).

Through all this, Thorpe remained his usual compact self, finding the gaps and occasionally cashing in on a rare half-volley. He was particularly determined to reverse-sweep at every opportunity, but unfortunately this ambition rubbed off on his new partner, Chris Read, who was adjudged lbw by Daryl Harper as he attempted a conventional sweep against Sanath Jayasuriya (205 for 7). But Batty, who had battled gamely for an invaluable 26 in that rearguard at Galle, was the right man for the moment. Always looking to attack, but solid in his defence as well, he provided Thorpe with the sort of support England so desperately needed.

In the course of his four-hour innings, Thorpe had showcased all his skills against the turning ball. But, even he had no answer for the ball that eventually accounted for him - a wicked top-spinner from Murali that pitched on middle and straightened to trap Thorpe lbw before he had any time to adjust his stroke.

It appeared to be the decisive blow of the innings, but Batty and Giles proved otherwise, and eventually, Hashan Tillakaratne had to turn to the new ball. Giles was quickly snapped up at second slip, but Batty hammered a couple of pugnacious blows before holing out to Tillakaratne Dilshan at midwicket. By the time Giles had made the breakthrough in Sri Lanka's reply, the match was finely poised once more.