Sri Lanka lost their last 9 wickets for 67 runs on day 2 of the 3rd and final Test against England, to give the visitors a 96-run lead going into their 2nd innings.

At 173/1 with just about 4 overs to go for Tea, Sri Lanka were sitting pretty on day 2 with Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya De Silva looking assured at the crease. The pair had put on 142 for the second wicket (the highest partnership of the series), with De Silva in particular at his elegant best. A soft dismissal saw him play the ball straight into the hands of Keaton Jennings at short-leg, after which Sri Lanka folded like a pack of cards.

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Jennings was one of the men who turned things around for England, snaffling up some incredible catches at bat-pad to send Danushka Gunathilake, Dhananjaya De Silva, Roshane Silva and Dimuth Karunaratne back to the pavilion.

Erratic Sandakan’s time to shine

It was the introduction of Ben Stokes that brought about a bit of panic in the Lankan batting as the big man bowled with pace and control at one end, as Adil Rashid looked to take wickets on the other.

Karunaratne went in similar fashion to De Silva straight after Tea, and when Angelo Mathews toe-ended a low catch to keeper Ben Foakes, Sri Lanka’s nerves began to show. None of the other batsmen were able to stick around long enough to take advantage of the conditions which were more than useful for batting, as Sri Lanka crumbled to 240 all out.

Bairstow returns with a century – Sri Lanka hit back late

Earlier in the day Lakshan Sandakan had completed his 2nd Test five-wicket haul to bring a halt to the English innings on 336.

Photos: Sri Lanka Vs. England | 3rd Test | Day 2

England only managed to add 24 to their overnight score of 312 but things were looking ominous for the hosts when Moeen Ali took captain Suranga Lakmal for two boundaries through the covers in the 2nd over of the day. Ali, the only recognized batsman England had in hand when play resumed on day 2, continued to attack and paid the price when he lofted one to the man at long-off, giving Sri Lanka the much-needed breakthrough through Dilruwan Perera.

Sandakan, who had been inconsistent and unlucky yesterday, struck immediately when he had Stuart Broad bowled in his 1st over of the day. Jack Leach tried to take on Dilruwan Perera and fell to an excellent catch by Angelo Mathews, who ran back from mid-off to take one over his shoulder.

Perera finished with figures of 3/113 while Sandakan registered career best figures of 5/95.









Title





Full Scorecard

England

336/10 & 230/10

(69.5 overs)

Result

Sri Lanka

240/10 & 284/10

(86.4 overs)

England won by 42 runs

England ‘s 1st Innings

Batting R B
Rory Burns b D Perera 14 34
Keaton Jennings c R Silva b M Pushpakumara 13 24
Jonny Bairstow b L Sandakan 110 186
Joe Root c D Gunathilaka b L Sandakan 46 79
Ben Stokes c D De Silva b L Sandakan 57 88
Jos Butler c & b L Sandakan 16 26
Moeen Ali c A Mathews b D Perera 33 55
Ben Foakes c N Dickwella b M Pushpakumara 13 26
Adil Rashid not out 21 31
Stuart Broad b L Sandakan 0 2
Jack Leach c A Mathews b D Perera 2 7
Extras
11 (b 7, lb 3, nb 1)
Total
336/10 (92.5 overs)
Fall of Wickets:
1-22 (R Burns, 7.5 ov), 2-36 (K Jennings, 10.5 ov), 3-136 (J Root, 38.1 ov), 4-235 (B Stokes, 64.5 ov), 5-254 (J Bairstow, 70.4 ov), 6-265 (J Butler, 74.4 ov), 7-294 (B Foakes, 83.1 ov), 8-328 (M Ali, 90.5 ov), 9-329 (S Broad, 91.2 ov), 10-336 (J Leach, 92.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W E
Suranga Lakmal 11 2 33 0 3.00
Dilruwan Perera 32.5 1 113 3 3.48
Malinda Pushpakumara 20 3 64 2 3.20
Lakshan Sandakan 22 0 95 5 4.32
Dhananjaya de Silva 5 0 16 0 3.20
Danushka Gunathilaka 2 0 5 0 2.50

Sri Lanka’s 1st Innings

Batting R B
Danushka Gunathilaka c K Jennings b J Leach 18 41
Dimuth Karunarathne c K Jennings b A Rashid 83 125
Dhananjaya de Silva c K Jennings b A Rashid 73 129
Kusal Mendis c B Stokes b A Rashid 27 36
Angelo Mathews c B Foakes b B Stokes 5 7
Roshen Silva c K Jennings b A Rashid 3 9
Niroshan Dickwella c B Foakes b B Stokes 5 16
Dilruwan Perera c B Foakes b B Stokes 0 5
Suranga Lakmal not out 3 9
Lakshan Sandakan (runout) 2 4
Malinda Pushpakumara lbw by A Rashid 13 14
Extras
8 (lb 7, w 1)
Total
240/10 (65.5 overs)
Fall of Wickets:
1-31 (D Gunathilaka, 11.4 ov), 2-173 (De Silva, 47.3 ov), 3-187 (D Karunarathne, 51.6 ov), 4-200 (A Mathews, 54.1 ov), 5-205 (R Silva, 55.6 ov), 6-222 (N Dickwella, 60.2 ov), 7-222 (K Mendis, 61.1 ov), 8-222 (D Perera, 62.1 ov), 9-224 (L Sandakan, 62.5 ov), 10-240 (M Pushpakumara, 65.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W E
Stuart Broad 9 2 36 0 4.00
Jack Leach 18 2 59 1 3.28
Moeen Ali 13 2 55 0 4.23
Adil Rashid 13.5 2 49 5 3.63
Joe Root 2 0 4 0 2.00
Ben Stokes 10 1 30 3 3.00

England ‘s 2nd Innings

Batting R B
Rory Burns lbw by D Perera 7 27
Keaton Jennings lbw by D Perera 1 12
Jonny Bairstow c K Silva b D Perera 15 31
Joe Root c & b M Pushpakumara 7 9
Ben Stokes c M Pushpakumara b D Perera 42 63
Jos Butler st. N Dickwella b L Sandakan 64 79
Moeen Ali c D De Silva b L Sandakan 22 53
Ben Foakes not out 36 82
Adil Rashid c N Dickwella b M Pushpakumara 24 48
Stuart Broad c K Mendis b M Pushpakumara 1 5
Jack Leach c N Dickwella b D Perera 0 13
Extras
11 (b 3, lb 4, w 1, nb 3)
Total
230/10 (69.5 overs)
Fall of Wickets:
1-3 (K Jennings, 4.1 ov), 2-20 (R Burns, 10.1 ov), 3-35 (J Bairstow, 12.3 ov), 4-39 (J Root, 13.6 ov), 5-128 (B Stokes, 31.5 ov), 6-168 (J Butler, 44.1 ov), 7-171 (M Ali, 46.2 ov), 8-215 (A Rashid, 60.6 ov), 9-217 (S Broad, 62.4 ov), 10-230 (J Leach, 69.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W E
Dilruwan Perera 29.5 3 88 5 2.98
Malinda Pushpakumara 12 2 28 3 2.33
Dhananjaya de Silva 9 1 24 0 2.67
Suranga Lakmal 3 1 7 0 2.33
Lakshan Sandakan 16 1 76 2 4.75

Sri Lanka’s 2nd Innings

Batting R B
Danushka Gunathilaka c B Stokes b M Ali 6 20
Dimuth Karunarathne b M Ali 23 36
Dhananjaya de Silva lbw by J Leach 0 7
Kusal Mendis (runout) J Leach 86 129
Angelo Mathews c S Broad b B Stokes 5 9
Lakshan Sandakan c B Stokes b J Leach 7 41
Roshen Silva lbw by M Ali 65 161
Niroshan Dickwella c K Jennings b J Leach 19 19
Dilruwan Perera c K Jennings b M Ali 5 22
Suranga Lakmal lbw by J Leach 11 38
Malinda Pushpakumara not out 42 40
Extras
15 (b 8, w 5, nb 2)
Total
284/10 (86.4 overs)
Fall of Wickets:
1-15 (D Gunathilaka, 5.5 ov), 2-24 (De Silva, 8.3 ov), 3-34 (D Karunarathne, 11.6 ov), 4-52 (A Mathews, 16.1 ov), 5-82 (L Sandakan, 26.6 ov), 6-184 (K Mendis, 57.4 ov), 7-214 (N Dickwella, 65.2 ov), 8-225 (D Perera, 72.3 ov), 9-226 (R Silva, 74.1 ov), 10-284 (S Lakmal, 86.4 ov)
Bowling O M R W E
Stuart Broad 5 0 14 0 2.80
Moeen Ali 26 3 92 4 3.54
Jack Leach 28.4 4 72 4 2.54
Ben Stokes 8 1 25 1 3.13
Adil Rashid 19 1 73 0 3.84