Lahiru Kumara was the pick of the bowling attack with 4-21 and the Sri Lankans were suddenly in with a big chance after being set 219 to win. Then a struggling Dan Lawrence looked like top-scoring for England’s second innings with his series-best 35 before Smith’s brutal 67 off 50 balls made them the only home batters to pass 12 on the third day as Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando – with his devastating inswingers – kept them in check .
Lahiru Kumara picked up 4 wickets while Nissanka scored another fifty giving the visitors the edge on Sunday. England were bundled out for 156 runs as Lahiru Kumara picked up figures of 4 wickets for 21 runs and Viswa Fernando took 3 for 40 as Sri Lanka were left needing 219 runs to win the match. As the day’s play ended due to bad light on Sunday, Sri Lanka were 94 for 1 with Pathum Nissanka batting on 53 off 44 balls and Kusal Mendis on 30 off 25 balls and needing another 125 to win.
Day 3 : Morning Session : Early strikes keep Sri Lanka afloat after conceding first-innings lead
A riveting morning session on the third day of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka has the match interestingly poised at The Oval. The hosts started the day on a high by removing the overnight duo of Dhananjaya de Silva (69) and Kamindu Mendis (64) in the first 30 minutes of the session.
A well-directed short ball from debutant Josh Hull saw the back of de Silva while Chris Woakes was rewarded with the scalp of Mendis who nicked one through to Joe Root in the slip cordon. The final three wickets did stick around a bit to add 30 more runs as England ended with a handy first-innings lead of 62.
Debutant Hull (3-53) was the joint-most successful bowler for the hosts and the tall fast bowler grew increasingly confident as he got more overs under the belt. The left-arm angle and steep bounce, cited as his x-factor, were there to see and the youngster bowled well in tandem with the other rookie Olly Stone (3-35) who was also nippy.
Veteran Woakes also did his bit as England produced a much controlled performance this morning in comparison to the second day. However, Sri Lanka had the best end to the session as they sent back first innings heroes Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett.
England’s second innings saw a start that was frenetic even by their standards as Daniel Lawrence showed clear intent from the get-go. His partner Duckett also tried to go the same route but mistimed an unusual slog to mid-on to give the Lankans the much-needed early strike. Things got sweeter for the visitors as England’s captain then chopped the cut onto the stumps at the stroke of Lunch to keep the game in the balance. England’s overall lead is 97 with eight wickets in hand, and the next two sessions could be crucial in the context of this game.
Earlier, Hull and Stone had preserved England’s advantage after Sri Lanka resumed for the day on 211 for 5, trailing by 114. Hull made amends for dropping Dhananjaya on the second evening when he had the Sri Lanka skipper caught for 69 with his 11th ball of the day, an attempted pull looping off the top edge to deep backward square.
That sparked a procession of five wickets for 52 runs in 13.3 overs, Hull, Stone and Woakes sharing four of the five wickets to fall with Atkinson off the field nursing a thigh problem from which he recovered sufficiently to bowl in the fourth innings.
Lahiru Kumara had Woakes caught behind for a six-ball duck but then Chandimal had to be helped off the field after diving stop a wayward Kumara delivery down the leg side to Gus Atkinson, hurting his lower back in the process. Atkinson was trapped lbw by Rathnayake, having faced 14 balls for his 1 before Smith got stuck in.
Harry Brook had come under fire for his petulant reaction to Sri Lanka’s successful bid to frustrate him by bowling outside off stump in the first innings. This time, he succumbed to another late inswinger which nailed the front pad with pin-point accuracy on leg stump in Vishwa’s next over.
Two early strikes had given Sri Lanka hope during a morning session extended because of bad weather over the first two days as Duckett and Pope fell cheaply.
Day 3 : Post Lunch Session : Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara put SL on top despite Smith defiance
An overwhelming session for Sri Lanka saw them get into the box seat of the third Test against England at The Oval at tea on the third day. Vishwa Fernando (3-40) and Lahiru Kumara (3-13) wrecked havoc on a pitch that has spiced up considerably with movement and variable bounce to put England on the mat.
If not for Jamie Smith’s (67 off 50) rearguard, the home side would have been in further disarray. For the first time in the series, England were put under relentless pressure by Sri Lanka’s bowlers and the home side couldn’t wriggle themselves out of it.
The session started with Daniel Lawrence keen to play his shots but his methods were too funky for a pitch of this kind. While he did step out to hammer Asitha Fernando for a six and a four, it was only a matter of time before he nicked one. Lahiru Kumara produced that inevitable moment to end Lawrence’s misery before Vishwa struck a big blow by trapping Joe Root LBW. It capped a rare poor game for England’s no.4 as the tourists gained momentum in the session. Harry Brook and Chris Woakes didn’t last long either, leaving Smith with the lower order.
However, the wicket-keeper batter once again rose to the occasion, showing steady temperament to weather the initial storm before unlocking his T20 mode. Sri Lanka also helped his a cause a bit as they drifted away from their plans once Smith took on the bowling. However, the session ended on a positive note for the visitors yet again as Smith fell at the stroke of tea, miscuing a pull to mid-wicket. It meant that Sri Lanka went into the break on top, albeit by a narrow margin as chasing 200-plus on this pitch will still take some doing.
Lawrence smashed Asitha for six over long-off and, two balls later, carved deftly through point for four. But, having bettered his previous series best by one run, he was brought undone by a Kumara delivery that moved away late and kissed the edge of the bat before landing in Chandimal’s gloves.
Vishwa entered the attack in the 15th over and he struck third ball with a superb inswinging yorker that hit Joe Root on the boot directly in front. Harry Brook had come under fire for his petulant reaction to Sri Lanka’s successful bid to frustrate him by bowling outside off stump in the first innings. This time, he succumbed to another late inswinger which nailed the front pad with pin-point accuracy on leg stump in Vishwa’s next over.
Lahiru Kumara had Woakes caught behind for a six-ball duck but then Chandimal had to be helped off the field after diving stop a wayward Kumara delivery down the leg side to Gus Atkinson, hurting his lower back in the process. Atkinson was trapped lbw by Rathnayake, having faced 14 balls for his 1 before Smith got stuck in.
Day 3 : Afternoon Session : Pathum Nissanka, bowlers put Sri Lanka in command on Day 3
Pathum Nissanka (53* off 44) smashed his second fifty of the game to give Sri Lanka the advantage in a tricky chase of 219 on the third day against England at The Oval. In the 15 overs that England got to bowl, they were all over the place as Nissanka found the fence regularly, sometimes through classy strokes and occasionally through edges. His partner Dimuth Karunaratne was more subdued but was the batter to fall as he inside-edged an inswinger onto the pad with the miscue falling back to Chris Woakes who took a fine diving catch.
If England hoped that the breakthrough would open the floodgates, they were in for a shock as Kusal Mendis (30* off 25) matched Nissanka stroke for stroke in a racy partnership of 55 that came off just 48 balls.
While the pair deserve credit for their intent and strokeplay, England were equally guilty of trying too hard – a probable result of their inexperienced attack barring Woakes. Play could have been extended till 7.30 pm local time (12 am IST) but with light fading, England were told not to bowl seam with 45 minutes left, forcing Ollie Pope and co. to stall proceedings for the day.
Earlier in the session, Sri Lanka wasted little time in knocking off the last two wickets, thereby facing a target of 219 for the consolation win. It was a brilliant collective performance with the ball from the tourists, led by Lahiru Kumara (4-21) and Vishwa Fernando (3-40) who were the destroyers-in-chief.
Armed with a first innings lead of 62, England’s plan of outbattling their opponents with ultra-aggressive intent backfired as they were bowled out in just 34 overs. Jamie Smith’s 50-ball 67 saved them the blushes as the wicket-keeper batter once again came clutch when his side was tottering at 82/7 at one stage.
Day three is generally the moving day of a Test match and that was indeed the case today. Play started with Sri Lanka still 114 adrift of England’s first innings total and ended with the tourists needing another 125 to register a famous overseas win.
The first hour didn’t go to plan for Sri Lanka as their overnight batters in Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis fell inside the first 30 minutes, and they were eventually bowled out soon, thereby conceding a significant first innings lead. However, that was the only poor passage of play for them on a day where they ticked all the other boxes.
By the time Olly Stone fell to give Kumara his fourth wicket and Asitha Fernando had Shoaib Bashir also caught behind by Nishan Madushka – standing in for the injured Dinesh Chandimal – England had stretched their advantage to 218. But then Smith pummelled 52 runs off the last 19 balls he faced, helping himself to 20 runs off one Milan Rathnayake over to lead England’s second-innings recovery from 82 for 7 to 140 for 8.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers, led by Vishwa, were making the ball move in what were by far the brightest conditions of the match so far, despite a couple of short interruptions for what amounted to sun-showers. Nissanka reached his second half-century of the match from just 42 balls by crunching a Josh Hull delivery to the rope wide of mid-off just before the light intervened, leaving him unbeaten on 53 with Kusal Mendis 30 not out.
And so, when bad light brought another early close, Sri Lanka were 94 for 1 and needing 125 more for a consolation win. Chris Woakes’ superb return catch removed Dimuth Karunaratne for just 8, but that was the only wicket to fall in Sri Lanka’s free-scoring fourth innings.
Then a struggling Dan Lawrence looked like top-scoring for England’s second innings with his series-best 35 before Smith’s brutal 67 off 50 balls made them the only home batters to pass 12 on the third day as Lahiru Kumara and Vishwa Fernando – with his devastating inswingers – kept them in check.
After an abject performance on the opening day when their bowlers failed to capitalize in prime conditions upon winning the toss, Sri Lanka had to watch Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett shine through the overhead gloom.
Then, two incisive passages of swing bowling – on a dark second day, then under bright skies on the third – had the tourists back in contention, but not before Jamie Smith had bludgeoned England out of dire trouble. Still, by the time bad light stopped play just before quarter to seven on Sunday evening, the match was Sri Lanka’s to lose. But it is the detail around those key moments that tell the story of where this Test sits heading into the final day.
Apart from Pope and Duckett, no England batter passed 20 in their first innings, as they were bowled out for an unremarkable 325. Despite Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis and Pathum Nissanka all passing fifty, no one pressed onto a big score that would have taken Sri Lanka past England, who led by 62 runs on first innings.
Day 4 for England and Sri Lanka
.Excellent day for Sri Lanka and they have a great chance to win another Test in England and end the series on a high. Set up by their bowlers with Vishwa and Lahiru Kumara leading the way. Earlier on today, Sri Lanka did not bat well as they went from 220/5 to be bowled out for 263, conceding a lead of 62. England immediately were rocked though as they slipped to 82/7 through a combination of good bowling and poor batting. And that’s where Jamie Smith came into the picture, he batted superbly as he attacked and got boundaries at will.
But just when he had Sri Lanka on the ropes he got out to what was the last ball before tea. The last two wickets after that did not last long and Sri Lanka were set 218 to win. Nissanka feasted on some loose stuff as he played his shots and did not let a loose ball go, Kusal Mendis too adopted the same strategy as he used his feet to the pacers. In what was the last over of the day, Bashir ripped one out of the footmarks which should encourage him and England.
As Nasser Hussain mentioned on air, tomorrow the forecast is for cloudy conditions and that should help the seamers. England would have had the night to regroup and come up with renewed energy for one last tilt in the series. But for now Sri Lanka are heavy favorites to win this game.