Summary

  • England slip to 14-3 - target 74

  • Bairstow 11*, Lawrence 7*

  • Sibley 2, Crawley 8, Root run out 1

  • Bairstow survives run-out chance

  • Two wickets for Embuldeniya

  • Sri Lanka 359: Thirimanne 111

  • First hundred since 2013

  • Mathews 71, K Perera 62

  • Leach 5-122, Bess 3-100

  • First Test, day four, Galle

  • Two-Test series postponed from March

  1. Goodbye!published at 12:44 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    You'll definitely be joining us at 4:15 tomorrow morning, right, and see England knock these runs off?

    You can catch up on today's action here and on the TMS podcast.

    Allow me to leave you with Aggers' finest moment from today...

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  2. Postpublished at 12:42 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Phil Tufnell
    Former England spinner on BBC Test Match Special

    I'm delighted for Jack Leach. You could see him and Dom Bess get better and better as the innings went on.

  3. Postpublished at 12:39 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    I think England might lose another couple of wickets - but they'll get there.

  4. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 12:38 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    #bbccricket

    Stuart Mitchell: England making things hard for themselves in cricket. A sense of normality in these troubled times.

  5. Postpublished at 12:36 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Russel Arnold
    Former Sri Lanka all-rounder on BBC Test Match Special

    It calmed down but that start of England's innings was hectic. We saw panic from England. Bairstow and Lawrence now look like they have it under control.

    Lawrence was very impressive once again. For him to be pro-active, show intent and try and put pressure on the bowlers was very good.

  6. Postpublished at 12:35 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    England: the Eastenders of world cricket.

  7. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 12:35 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Text 81111

    Excellent. Time for England to slip to 55-6 first thing, and then for Jack Leach to clean his glasses to the finish line. Love this England team's dramatic flair!

    Dominic

  8. Postpublished at 12:33 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    Everyone around the game in England knows what a good guy Leach is. Not just that innings at Headingley, he was put into cricket royalty for that, but I hear that he is such a good guy. I like this honesty. He did get better and better. He bowled some batsmen out with good deliveries. That holds England in good stead for the next game.

  9. 'I feel a lot happier now'published at 12:32 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

    England spinner Jack Leach on TMS: "I wouldn't say that [bowled well] to be honest. It has been hard graft out there and I have certainly found I am probably a little rusty. At times I felt I could have done a better job but the pleasing thing is I felt I bowled better as the game went on.

    "I put a lot of pressure on myself. I have tried to give myself bit of leeway as the opportunity to play has been limited. I have found it hard on the body. You can bowl as much in the nets as you want but it is not the same as in the middle. It has been a challenge but hopefully a good one if we knock these off tomorrow."

    Asked whether he was set to come in as nightwatchman: "Jos [Buttler] wanted to get out there. I was happy with that!"

    Leach added: "I feel a lot happier now with 38 on the board than when the third wicket fell. All credit to Jonny and Dan. I have played a few of these tight games in spinning conditions and have seen it all.

    "We will come back tomorrow, knock these off and then I can be happy about my five wickets. It will only mean something if we win."

  10. Postpublished at 12:29 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    It has been an exciting day's play. First and foremost I am delighted for Jack Leach. He got better and better. He has had a rough 12 months, hardly played any cricket and then gets a five-for. Sri Lanka have hung in there.

  11. Postpublished at 12:28 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

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  12. Postpublished at 12:26 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    If Sri Lanka had run Bairstow out just after Root it would have been very interesting. Credit to Sri Lanka - we pelted them but on days three and four have shown they are a team that can compete in home conditions.

  13. Postpublished at 12:25 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

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  14. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 12:23 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    #bbccricket

    Ben Gledhill: In the turmoil of the current world, an England collapse is quite reassuring that the world is still in some kind of order.

  15. How's stat?!published at 12:22 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Andy Zaltzman
    Test Match Special statistician

    If England do fail to chase this down it would be the lowest target unsuccessfully chased in Test history.

  16. Postpublished at 12:20 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Must admit, after Sri Lanka got rolled on the first day, I didn't think we'd be going into day five discussing the possiblity of them winning. I didn't think we'd be going into day five at all.

  17. Postpublished at 12:20 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    It still favours England but after a lead of 286, the fact we are even talking in these terms shows Sri Lanka have come back strongly.

  18. Postpublished at 12:20 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    So, England will need 36 runs tomorrow, with seven wickets in hand, to take a 1-0 series lead.

    Should be easy enough, right?

  19. Postpublished at 12:19 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    It just shows what pressure does, plus the spinning ball and men around the bat.

    It is gripping cricket.

    For Dan Lawrence to have come through that... He deserves great credit.

  20. Close of playpublished at 12:12 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    And that, folks, is that.

    We're coming back tomorrow.