[sport] England closing in on victory over Sri Lanka

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First Test, Emirates Old Trafford (day three of five) Sri Lanka 236 (Dhananjaya 74; Woakes 3-32) & 204-6 (Mathews 65, K Mendis 56*) England 358 (Smith 111, Brook 56; A Fernando 4-103) Sri Lanka are 82 runs ahead Scorecard England are moving towards victory over Sri Lanka after an eventful third day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford. The tourists closed on 204-6 in their second innings, only 82 ahead at the end of a Friday that began with England’s Jamie Smith completing his maiden Test century. Sri Lanka were in danger of imploding when captain Dhananjaya de Silva was out to Matthew Potts. With Dinesh Chandimal having an X-ray on his thumb after being pinned by Mark Wood, the tourists were effectively 95-5 in their second innings, still 27 adrift. But Angelo Mathews showed some much-needed defiance, dragging Sri Lanka into the lead with 65 in a stand of 78 with Kamindu Mendis. Crucially, England persuaded the umpires to change the ball and got a replacement that swung, with Potts having chances dropped off both Mathews and Kamindu. Mathews eventually poked Chris Woakes to Potts at point and though England will have been concerned by Wood leaving the field midway through an over, his replacement Joe Root needed only two balls to induce a wild hack from Milan Rathnayake. Sri Lanka were at least boosted by the news that Chandimal has avoided a fracture and he returned to move to 20 not out, alongside Kamindu unbeaten on an impressive 56. Earlier, wicketkeeper Smith’s 111 lifted England to 358 and a first-innings lead of 122.For two days, some occasionally high-quality cricket had been hard to enjoy because of the drab conditions. A sunny Friday with a bigger crowd felt like the arrival of a spectacle. With that in mind, the prospect of Sri Lanka folding was disappointing, especially given the one-sided nature of England’s series against West Indies last month. For some time, a three-day finish seemed the most likely outcome. Mathews, though, has form in these situations. In 2014 the 37-year-old former captain rescued Sri Lanka from a helpless position at Headingley and engineered one of the most famous victories in their history. He found a confident partner in Kamindu. The pitch, often uneven, went to sleep. Stand-in England captain Ollie Pope was forced into his hardest thinking of the match. The ball change, 41 overs into the Sri Lanka innings, was the turning point, though England almost missed their chance. While Woakes accounted for Mathews, he had already been badly missed by Root at slip and Gus Atkinson was slow to move towards Kamindu’s slash to point. England will remember what happened on this ground during last year’s Ashes Test, when most of the last two days were lost to rain and the match was drawn. Rain is again forecast for the weekend, but they will hope their position is strong enough and the weather kind enough for victory to be achieved.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/articles/ckg2yevnjg2o