After England's Jamie Smith reached his first Test century on Friday, the tourists ended their second innings at 204-6, behind by only 82 runs. The moment skipper Dhananjaya de Silva went out to Matthew Potts, Sri Lanka looked like they may collapse. Having been pinned by Mark Wood, Dinesh Chandimal had an X-ray on his thumb, and the visitors were virtually 27 down at 95-5 in the second innings.

However, Angelo Mathews shown some much-needed defiance, scoring 65 in a 78-run partnership with Kamindu Mendis to put Sri Lanka ahead. Crucially, England convinced the umpires to switch the ball, and Potts had opportunities to be dropped by both Mathews and Kamindu. Though Wood's departure from the field in the middle of an over will have worried England, Mathews ultimately pushed Chris Woakes to Potts at point, and Joe Root, who replaced Wood, took just two balls to get Milan Rathnayake to launch a reckless hack.