Nissanka, bowlers put Sri Lanka in command

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 outbatting 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.

Brief scores: England 325 and 156 (Jamie Smith 67; Lahiru Kumara 4-21, Vishwa Fernando 3-40) lead Sri Lanka 263 and 94/1 (Pathum Nissanka 53*, Kusal Mendis 30*) by 125 runs