Tea Sri Lanka 236 and 107 for 4 (Mathews 48*, Kamindu 6*) trail England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56, Asitha 4-102) by 15 runs
Those moments followed a catastrophic three-over foray immediately before lunch, in which both Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis were dismissed for ducks, by Chris Woakes and Gus Atkinson respectively. And after Potts pinned Dhananjaya de Silva lbw for 11, Sri Lanka were 107 for 4 – effectively five – at tea. They still trailed by 15, with an extended final session of the day to come, not to mention two more (admittedly weather-threatened) days over the weekend.
It was all a far cry from the competitive scenario that had seemed in prospect overnight, when England had resumed on 259 for 6, with a slender lead of 23 in the bag, but with most of their hopes of a big lead resting on the shoulders of their last – and most junior – recognised batter, Smith.
After resuming on 72 not out, Smith was quickly into his stride against a Sri Lanka attack that lacked much of the intensity that they had brought to their endeavours in the first half of England’s innings, and when he crashed two boundaries through the covers in Asitha Fernando’s first over of the day, it seemed he might be in a hurry to notch his three figures.
And yet, having fallen for 95 against West Indies at Edgbaston in his previous Test innings in July, Smith then throttled back appreciably, settling instead on building a resolute seventh-wicket stand of 66 with Gus Atkinson, whose own score of 20 from 65 was his third such contribution in consecutive England innings.
Once again, England’s progress was aided by some questionable Sri Lanka field placings, with Atkinson frequently offered easy singles through the off side to keep the strike rotating, while Smith himself took 27 deliveries to pick off the final 14 runs of his hundred, with the moment coming up with a firm clip off the pads through square leg off Milan Rathnayake. At 24 days and 40 days, that made him the youngest England men’s keeper to reach a Test century.
Moments later, Rathnayake had a moment of his own to savour, a maiden Test wicket – though perhaps not in the manner that he might have envisaged, as Atkinson feathered a leg-side delivery through to Chandimal, whose low take was confirmed by an umpire’s review. And just when it seemed that Smith was set to cut loose, Prabath Jayasuriya fizzed down a faster, wider seaming delivery, and Chandimal did brilliantly to cling onto a fat deflection, standing up to the stumps.
Jamie Smith celebrates his maiden England hundred with Gus Atkinson•AFP/Getty Images
Into the breach stepped Wood, with full licence to swing in his Bazball-approved manner. Sri Lanka took the new ball as soon as it was available, which arguably backfired as Wood thumped the first two deliveries of Asitha’s comeback over through the off side for four. Jayasuriya was then flat-batted through the covers for another four, before Wood launched Asitha high over midwicket for an exceptional one-handed catch from a spectator in the crowd, albeit with a bit of spillage from the pint in his other hand.
Asitha ended Wood’s fun in the same over, bowling him for 22 from 13 to land his fourth wicket of the innings, but Potts kept the crowd entertained with a cameo of his own, his 17 from 23 featuring one excellently picked-up ramp for four over the keeper’s head before he holed out to square leg.
Ordinarily, that would have been that for the session. But, with time being made up due to the rain that disrupted Thursday’s play, Sri Lanka had to emerge for an awkward three-over burst before the break – and soon wished they hadn’t.
After negotiating the first two balls of the innings, Madushka shouldered arms to a Woakes inswinger and heard the death rattle. Then, in the very next over, Kusal pressed forward on an off-stump line to Atkinson’s fourth delivery, and snicked through low to the man of the moment, Smith. They limped to lunch on 10 for 2, after one of the sorriest mini-sessions imaginable.
England’s approach after the resumption was to go cross-seam, sacrificing the short-term threat of new-ball swing for the long-term gains of a scuffed-up ball and the prospect of reverse-swing. It enabled Karunaratne and Mathews to settle into a composed 50-run stand that hinted at better times to come. But, inevitably, there was a speed-bump to come, and Wood duly delivered it.
As has now become the summer’s norm, the crowd shuffled forward as one as Wood was thrown the ball for the 14th over of the innings, and he rewarded that anticipation with a first-ball exocet. Round the wicket, back of a length, it arrived in Karunaratne’s midriff so rapidly that he didn’t even know whether he had nicked it before it cannoned off his padding and through to Harry Brook in the cordon. Some choice words over the stump mic confirmed that he’d “hit the cover off it”, and sure enough Snicko confirmed an inside-edge.
Three overs later, Wood cranked up his pace for another gruesome body blow. Having already broken Kevin Sinclair’s wrist during the West Indies series, this time he twisted Chandimal’s right thumb clean off the bat handle with another vicious lifter. On came the physio, but Chandimal’s thumb was swelling even as he underwent treatment, and soon afterwards it was confirmed he’d been sent to hospital for a scan.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
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