By Lawrence White
LONDON (Reuters) -Sri Lanka put on an exhibition of incisive swing bowling to wreck an over-aggressive England second innings and turn the match on its head after lunch on day three of the third test on Sunday.
Ben Duckett (7), Ollie Pope (7), Dan Lawrence (35) and Joe Root (12) all fell swinging, sacrificed at the altar of the relentlessly aggressive philosophy that has brought England so much success in recent years while antagonising their more traditionally-minded fans.
As much as England played some loose shots, Sri Lanka bowled well, finding movement through the air after lunch as the floodlights came on at the Oval.
Vishwa Fernando took the prize wicket of Root, rapping him on the boot with an in-swinger, and then doing the same to Harry Brook. When Chris Woakes (0) edged the impressive Lahiru Kumara moments later, England were thoroughly in the mire at 70-6 with the lead only 132.
The clatter of English wickets was only interrupted by a halt in play as Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal left the field in significant pain after a diving stop.
England earlier in the day snuffed out the threat of having their first innings overhauled after Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis had combined for a century partnership on Saturday to rescue Sri Lanka from an early collapse.
Repeated interruptions for rain contributed to the frenetic feel to the match. Both sides batted aggressively whenever play was possible, neither interested in a draw as England sought a 3-0 whitewash and Sri Lanka tried to end with a win.
England’s latest surprise test selection, the 6’7″ (2.01m) left arm seamer Josh Hull, struck in the first short passage of play as Sri Lanka’s captain de Silva hooked him into the hands of Shoaib Bashir. He then took the third wicket of his fledgling test career, trapping Vishwa Fernando lbw.
Chris Woakes between those two wickets had seized the prize scalp of Mendis, Sri Lanka’s best batsman of the series, with a fine ball that seamed away from him and found the edge.
Both sides have conspired to give the match a slightly ramshackle feel with a series of reckless shots and fielding errors, and Olly Stone was the latest culprit as he dropped a straightforward catch in the deep to deny Hull a fourth wicket.
Stone soon redeemed himself, removing the dangerous tail-end hitter Milan Rathnayake who swatted loosely at a lifter and was caught by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
England managed to end Sri Lanka’s first innings briskly despite being a bowler down, Gus Atkinson not appearing due to reported muscle tightness.
Spinner Bashir claimed the last wicket as Asitha Fernando was caught by Smith, the Sri Lankan number 11 reverse sweeping after a few lusty slogs to leave the visitors with a first innings deficit as they try to avoid a 3-0 whitewash in the series.
(Reporting By Lawrence WhiteEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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