Player of the Match
Player of the Match

11.52am In isolation, that was a very good session for Sri Lanka, even though they're so far behind as far as the match goes. Asita Fernando shows traces of what he can do if he is persisted with. I felt he was underbowled yesterday, and the pace, intensity he showed today will surely encourage Chandimal/Karunaratne to bowl him more going forward.

Embuldeniya and Dilruwan did a bulk of the leg work, bowling 81 overs between them for seven wickets. They can take some heart from that, but it's now over to the batsmen to prove to themselves, if not for anyone else, that they can do what England have, in their own conditions. Not going to be easy though because there's grip and turn on the surface, and there's also a small matter of the batsmen dealing with a crisis of confidence. Join Alan in about 40 minutes for the post-lunch session.

117.1
W
MDK Perera to Root, OUT, steps out to swing this over the ropes but holes out to deep midwicket. I suspect Root was looking to hit it a lot straighter so he ended up dragging it a little courtesy the sharp turn. What a magnificent knock it has been. Dickwella shakes his hand as Root walks off. Well played. England all out. Sri Lanka need 287 to make England bat again and with that, they'll take lunch on day three

JE Root c Embuldeniya b MDK Perera 228 (476m 321b 18x4 1x6) SR: 71.02

END OF OVER:
117 | 9 Runs | ENG: 421/9

  • Stuart Broad11 (13b)
  • Joe Root228 (320b)
  • Asitha Fernando14-1-44-2
  • Dilruwan Perera36-2-109-3
116.6
4
Fernando to Broad, FOUR, another one, more agony for Asita. Sees this short, Broad has a swing and gets a top edge that flies over the keeper's head. Lead racing towards 300
116.5
4
Fernando to Broad, FOUR, smacks this superbly! Backs away and pulls this away to the fine leg boundary. Was waiting for the short ball, he'd decided yesterday
116.4
1
Fernando to Root, 1 run, full toss, whips this to deep square leg
116.3
0
Fernando to Root, no run, dabs this length ball to the wide slip fielder
116.2
0
Fernando to Root, no run, driven into the covers, change of pace this time from Asita
116.1
0
Fernando to Root, no run, full ball on the stumps, defended

END OF OVER:
116 | 1 Run | ENG: 412/9

  • Stuart Broad3 (11b)
  • Joe Root227 (316b)
  • Dilruwan Perera36-2-109-3
  • Lasith Embuldeniya45-4-176-3
115.6
0
MDK Perera to Broad, no run, full on the stumps, gets well forward and smothers this
115.5
0
MDK Perera to Broad, no run, Oh, how lucky is Broad? The impact is outside the line, so even though the ball was going on to hit, he can't be given out because he was looking to sweep. Broad survives

England 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st3DP SibleyZ Crawley
2nd9JM BairstowZ Crawley
3rd2JM BairstowJE Root
4th62JM BairstowDW Lawrence