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. Postpublished at 04:40 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Ebony Rainford-Brent
    Former England batter on BBC Test Match Special

    Thirimanne gets away with that a little bit. Dom Bess has bowled a tight line to him, so it's the first time he's got any width.

  2. Postpublished at 04:40 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Oh, Dom Sibley was about a centimetre away from grabbing that ball at short extra cover...

  3. SL 171-3published at 67 overs

    Trail by 115

    Dom Bess lets his disappoinment show with a short delivery that is mullered by Lahiru Thirimanne for four.

    That's Thirimanne into the nineties...

  4. SL 167-3published at 66.5 overs

    Dom Bess gets away with a short delivery as Lahiru Thirimanne gallumphs it to cover point, who makes a bit of a mess of stopping the ball.

    Oh! That would have been a stunner! Thirimanne drills Dom Bess towards cover, not quite timing the shot, and Dom Sibley's terrific, one-handed effort is in vain.

  5. How's stat?!published at 04:36 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Andy Zaltzman
    Test Match Special statistician

    This is Lahiru Thirimanne's highest score since 2013.

    He has now ended his sequence of not reaching 70 - 53 in a row, which is a record in Test innings for a top-six batsman, beating Devon Smith of West Indies (51), and Allan Lamb (41).

    It is a fine effort from someone who has struggled in this format.

  6. SL 163-3published at 66 overs

    Trail by 123

    I've got this and the Gabba Test on, which you can follow thanks to commentary from our chums at ABC Grandstand. Quite nice, sitting on the sofa under a duvet because I'm too cheap to put the heating on, with two lots of cricket playing.

  7. Postpublished at 04:31 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    It's a horrible job being a nightwatchman.

    I was quite angry about being it once so I did just go out and swing. We were playing Kent at Canterbury, and I'd bowled about 30 overs, and David Gower told me to get them on.

    I went in on a hat-trick in the first over. I'll be honest, the hat-trick ball wasn't negotiated with quite the confidence and focus it should be.

  8. SL 163-3published at 65 overs

    Thirimanne 83, Mathews 0

    That's better from Dom Bess, finding some spin sharp enough to beat the outside edge of a flat-footed Lahiru Thirimanne. It's a better length from Bess - no gimme balls as of yet.

  9. SL 163-3published at 64 overs

    That's sure to improve Stuart Broad's mood, as he offers up a bit of width to Lahiru Thirimanne and watches the ball get thrashed straight through a diving Dom Bess at backward point to go for four.

    Thirimanne tries to repeat the shot and this time Bess fields it cleanly. A wise move, given the look on Broad's face right now.

  10. Postpublished at 04:24 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Angelo Mathews is the new man at the crease for Sri Lanka, who trail by 128 runs.

  11. Postpublished at 04:23 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    That all happened so low key that nobody has done anything. There's no high fives or celebrations. Lasith Embuldeniya just walks off.

  12. wicket

    WICKETpublished at 63 overs

    Embuldeniya c Sibley b Bess 0 (SL 158-3)

    Still, no harm done.

    A soft dismissal, truth be told, as Lasith Embuldeniya spoons Dom Bess' final ball of the over straight into the waiting hands of Dom Sibley at short cover. Nobody celebrated! But he did his job last night, which is the point of a nightwatchman.

  13. dropped catch

    Embuldeniya dropped on 0published at 62.3 overs

    Oh!

    Calling this a drop is unfair, but Zak Crawley has just spilt a toughie at short leg.

  14. Postpublished at 04:20 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Ebony Rainford-Brent
    Former England batter on BBC Test Match Special

    I'd have gone for Jack Leach at the other end personally.

    I thought he bowled some beautiful deliveries, when he got it right. He got a little bit of turn and those two would offer you the most control and threat as a pair I think.

  15. Postpublished at 04:20 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    And at the opposite end, it'll be Dom Bess, who didn't have a good day yesterday. He was run out for nought - a brutal bit of burgling by Joe Root - and struggled for consistency with the ball.

  16. Postpublished at 04:18 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    Stuart Broad knows that his job is absolutely to keep everything as tight as he possibly can.

    He hates giving away runs, as we know, him and Jimmy Anderson.

  17. SL 158-2published at 62 overs

    A rare bit of width from Stuart Broad, and Lahiru Thirimanne clonks a drive away into the off side for the first runs of the day.

  18. SL 156-2published at 61.1 overs

    Trail by 130

    Bang on the money as always from Stuart Broad first up, and Lahiru Thirimanne defends the ball to mid-off.

  19. Postpublished at 04:15 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

    You can listen to Aggers in his PJs by clicking play at the top of this page.

    Anyway, here's Stuart Broad...

  20. Postpublished at 04:14 Greenwich Mean Time 17 January 2021

    Jonathan Agnew
    BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

    The word from Galle is that the weather seems better today than it has been throughout the game.

    The game is set up nicely, and while you still strongly fancy England to win it, you just never know.