England give Sri Lanka route into final Test

Third Test, The Kia Oval (day two of five)

England 325: Pope 154, Duckett 86; Rathnayake 3-56

Sri Lanka 211-5: Nissanka 64, De Silva 64*, Kamindu Mendis 54*

Sri Lanka are 114 runs behind

Scorecard

England gave Sri Lanka a way back into the final Test on a curious second day at The Kia Oval.

The home side squandered wickets to be bowled out for 325 before Sri Lanka reached 211-5, 114 behind.

Like the first day, bad light was a constant threat, at one stage resulting in the bewildering sight of Chris Woakes bowling four balls of off-spin.

Home captain Ollie Pope turned his century into 154 but received little support. Sri Lanka's bowlers were much improved from their poor showing on Friday and, with England's aggression tipping into recklessness, the hosts lost their last seven wickets for 64 runs.

England's ultra-positivity carried into their bowling and field settings, probably because of an eagerness to capitalise on the conditions.

Sri Lanka raced to 50 inside nine overs, led by Pathum Nissanka's 40-ball half-century. He was not deterred by opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne being run-out by Olly Stone's direct hit.

Nissanka became the first Test wicket for debutant Josh Hull when he drove to a diving Woakes at extra cover. With Stone taking two wickets in as many overs, Sri Lanka lost three for seven to slip to 93-5.

Skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis battled and, when the light worsened after tea, England had to bowl spin. Crucially, Hull dropped De Silva on 23.

Sri Lanka were making good progress until the umpires decided it was too dark. By that point, De Silva had 64 and Mendis 54, their stand worth an unbroken 118.

Lack of light and jeopardy create poor spectacle

The scene at The Oval just before the players were forced from the field for a final time

After the frustration of more than half of day one being lost to the light, this second day was low intensity and, at times, low quality.

With England already confirmed as series winners, the finale is lacking jeopardy and was not helped by more shenanigans with the light.

The gloom of the sky and green tinge of the pitch suggested help for the bowlers, so there was some logic to England's approach. They tried to score quickly in the morning, then went all-out for wickets when they came to bowl.

Still, some of the dismissals - all seven batters out on Saturday were caught playing attacking shots - and field settings were reminiscent of a friendly or benefit match.

That feeling was reinforced when Karunaratne was run-out two balls into Woakes' fourth over. Umpires Joel Wilson and Chris Gaffaney decided the light was not suitable for pace bowling, resulting in Woakes sending down some terrible off-breaks.

At a stroke, international sport resembled the village green. At a time when the future of Test cricket is debated, this was a scene of high farce. The crowd booed. Within moments, the sun came out.

Normal Test cricket resumed, England worked through the top order until they were halted by De Silva and Mendis, and the light played a part again as Sri Lanka chipped away the deficit after tea.

De Silva and Mendis halt England

The way England batted suggested a desire to get bowling. In the one over Woakes bowled before lunch, England had eight catchers.

Sri Lanka were given the opportunity to score quickly and pounced on it. Nissanka's half-century was the fastest by a Sri Lanka batter in a Test against England. Nissanka and Karunaratne ran well until the latter was sold short by a tight single and Stone's dead-eye throw.

Woakes' spin was no better than club standard, but when he was allowed back to pace, Kusal Mendis edged to second slip. Stone continued his impressive return to Test cricket by first getting Angelo Mathews to fend to gully, then pinning Dinesh Chandimal lbw.

Hull, the 20-year-old, 6ft 7in left-armer, is the most outrageous pick of all England's recent hunches. On in the 12th over, he swung the ball and was occasionally erratic, yet got the key wicket of Nissanka thanks to Woakes' smart catch. It was just his 17th first-class wicket.

De Silva and Mendis battled to tea, their stand at 49 when the light necessitated more spin. Da Silva drilled Shoaib Bashir to Hull at mid-on and a straightforward chance was spilled. It would have left Sri Lanka 152-6.

It is to England's credit they were happy to bowl spin for more than an hour into the evening, when the reintroduction of pace would have sent the players off.

In the end, the umpires decided it was too dark even for the slow bowlers, leaving 26 overs unused.

Pope prospers as England flail

England had done well to move to 221-3 after being asked to bat on day one. When Pope resumed on Saturday on 103 and in the company of Harry Brook, the home side were in fast-forward from the outset.

Brook's was a skittish innings. He was woefully dropped by Asitha Fernando at deep point before he drilled Milan Rathnayake to short cover for 19. It set the tone for the rest of England's morning.

Sri Lanka found prodigious swing and Pope rode his luck. An lbw off Vishwa Fernando was overturned by the tiniest margin when Pope had 139 and in the same over the captain somehow escaped dragging on to his own stumps.

Jamie Smith clipped Asitha to mid-wicket, Woakes and Gus Atkinson both holed out from the off-spin of Da Silva, while Hull and Bashir were bounced out.

Pope was the eighth wicket to fall, hooking Vishwa to deep square leg. Apart from Ben Duckett, who made 86 on the opening day, no other England batter made it to 20.

Overall, the seven-wicket collapse on Saturday morning came in exactly 100 deliveries.

'England went down a gear' - what they said

Ex-England captain Sir Alastair Cook, speaking on Test Match Special: "England have gone down a gear, there was an element of control yesterday, part of it could have been put down to bad bowling. Ollie Pope was just scoring what was in front of him, he didn't have to go looking for runs.

"There was an element of carelessness today. They haven't nailed the game down. By today they could have been so far ahead there was no way Sri Lanka could have come back. They have given Sri Lanka a sniff.

"You are allowed bad days. You are never perfect for five days. Today it felt like they brought it too much on themselves."

England bowler Olly Stone: "I wouldn't say we were complacent. We've always said about taking the positive option, sometimes you can sit there and take a few blows. If you put a few chances away it can come out differently. On another day it goes another way and we get a few on the board."